Each of the officers has expressed the need for a single, less controversial, policy for interrogation and detainment that will apply to all agencies. The meeting was also attended by Washington lawyer Greg Craig, who is one of Obama's appointment for White House Counsel, and Mary De Rosa, a member of Obama's national security transition team.
Retired Rear Admiral John Hutson, was quoted as saying "It is (important) that the new President say up front that the United States is not going to engage in torture or enhanced interrogations". This is true as Obama needs to take a stand on a controversial issue such as the use of torture by the United States, as techniques such as these only help to strengthen a poor image of America. Another important point made by Hutson was that some inmates currently detained in Guantanamo Bay "should be treated like any other criminal" and tried in a United States district court.
This would be a huge step in strengthening the image of the United States as Guantanamo has constantly an issue of debate among the citizens of every country. During his campaign President-Elect Obama indicated that he would like to close Guantanamo Bay and re-evaluate the Bush administrations policies on torture and detainment of suspected terrorists. Obama was quoted as saying "I have said repeatedly that I intend to close down Gunatanamo, and I will follow through on that". I for hope that this becomes a reality as the current detainment policies for Guantanamo Bay are ridiculous, containment without trial? Who knows how many innocent people are currently being housed in the facility. A change in torture policy and the closing of Guantanamo Bay would go a long way towards changing the image the world holds of America.
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Torture, or "enhanced interrogation methods", is a nasty little secret that the United States generally prefers to keep away from the attention of the people and the media. And although compared to some other modern nations, our degree of torture is not quite as cruel and inhumane, it still greatly damages the humanitarian integrity of the United States, and reciprocates a negative image of the United States in the realm of humanitarian ideology and movement. If the new presidential administration under the leadership of current President-elect Obama wishes to reestablish good terms with such campaigns (in addition to restoring the trust and faith in the government so horribly marred by the Bush administration), then you are correct in that they most not only express their agenda to abolish such inhumane acts of interrogation, but also follow through with their intentions. Now, I'm not saying that torture isn't necessary in all circumstances, there are certainly people in this world who deserve it, and in critical moments of desperation, it may unfortunately became necessary - but the fact of the matter is that it is flat out wrong, cruel, and inhumane. We all have rights as human beings.
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