Punchline for 2014: the man who oversaw the legal behavior of the NSA and then did something similar for the CIA -- in the years of the NSAs illegal spying on Americans and, of course, of the Senate investigation of CIA torture practices (which he sought to derail) is now teaching a course in ethics at George Mason University. So writes Ken Silverstein at the Intercept of Robert Deitz. And how appropriate in a world in which no act committed by the national security state (except whistleblowing) is a crime. We need Deitz and his like to teach us the real rules of the road for 2015 and beyond. Tom Waterboarding: Yes or no? It’s OK to selectively violate the Geneva Convention, right? Spying on Americans is illegal, but aren’t rules made to be broken? The world is a confusing place and it’s hard for young people to answer complicated questions like these on their own. Fortunately, students at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, have Professor Robert Deitz to help them navigate the contemporary moral morass. “All of us are familiar with basic ethical notions,” he writes in the syllabus for his Spring 2015 course, Ethical Challenges in Public Policy. We learn from childhood the idea that some conduct is right and other conduct is not right. How’d Deitz get so smart about ethics? He’s magna cum laude from Harvard (like President Obama) and then spent eights years as General Counsel at the National Security Agency, serving as the official Yes Man for General Michael Hayden, and after that three years as his Senior Councillor at the Central Intelligence Agency until 2009. At the former post Deitz rubber-stamped NSA surveillance. At the latter, he sought to derail an independent investigation by then-CIA Inspector General John Helgerson into the agency’s torture and rendition of terrorism suspects. After retiring from public service Deitz joined GMU as Distinguished Visiting Professor & CIA Officer-in-Residence, and he’s now on the regular faculty. In his course syllabus Deitz (also author of Congratulations — You Just Got Hired: Don’t Screw It Up) promises that ethical matters of current interest will be discussed in class. For example, during Week 11 Deitz will help students resolve the following questions: “Should (may) the government lie? Specifically, should (may) the Executive lie to Congress? To the people? Are there degrees of governmental lying? Should (may) government lawyers be aggressive in their interpretations of law so as to find Executive programs and conduct lawful? (Note to GMU students: Answer no to any of those questions on the final exam and you get an F.) https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/12/22/irony-101-study-ethics-robert-deitz-legal-ace-sanctioned-nsa-wiretapping-cia-torture/
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 16:00:01 +0000
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