This is precisely what disturbs me about the steady line of Iraq cases in which low-level soldiers take the blame for the institutional indescretions and abuses that provide the context in which drones carry out unwritten directives, and assume blame when things go badly. Instead of impeaching a defense secretary or an attorney general or a president for breaking the law at Gitmo, our legislative “leaders” quickly decide to rewrite decades of law and precedent and make it all “legal.”

As a mother, as parent of a vulnerable son, my thoughts and prayers are with each of you. Let’s hope he gains in discipline and self-confidence without suffering unnecessarily; and let’s hope you come out of it all knowing you have been there for him all the way, and will be no matter what.