President Obama’s National Security Speech (full text) today wasn’t without its merits. Obama did a fairly good job of framing the anti-torture debate by focusing on the facts that it is a) illegal, b) ineffective, c) counterproductive and d) dangerous to our country as it could breed more hatred. It was light on the ethical objections to the practice but the latter three points may be convincing to those who aren’t already against torture on moral grounds. Obama also showed that the anti-torture statements predated his administration and had bipartisan support.