For a good example of a right-wing nut without a sense of history, see National Journal Magazine – The Torture Trials Of 2010.
To imagine that torture will be of little consequence to historians, especially after the records are declassified, reflects someone without an understanding of a) how historians work; b) a sense of the foundational principles of the United States; and/or c) how even the least sophisticated reader will see through the claims to historical “objectivity” at the true political agenda here.
As a historian, I would suggest that a future generation of scholars will compare this moment to any and all of the above stories from the past: a) internment of Japanese during World War II; b) Nuremburg (as an example of the loss of American international prestige that was at an apex in the WWII period and declined in successive generations); c) various moments of American imperialism and government deceipt (Spanish-American War, Gulf of Tonkin, etc.) which is a bit off-topic but this ties to Iraq and Abu Gharaib; d) FBI domestic surveillance, Watergate, and Cointelpro.
Future historians will see this as a stain not only on the Bush administration and an indictment of right-wing extremism and its ascendance in America. But, also, they will see the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as too weak to pursue the prosecutions–or better yet Truth and Reconciliation. This weakness will be viewed as a tragedy for America the nation, America the people, America as an ideal, and the Constitution.
What Rauch aims to do is to dissuade us from investigating, but what he really does is foster the continued existence of these anti-democratic, anti-constitutional criminals in much the same way that a right-wing press has sanctioned the work of right-wing death and torture squads throughout the world.
Really, this one is easy. We need not prosecute; but, we must find the truth. That is why I recommend Truth and Reconciliation as a way of exposing the evil of the Bush administration. And, by the way, for those of you who say torture works, this process would bring to light just how well it works. But, you pro-torture folks know the truth here: Torture does not work. That’s why folks like Jonathan Rauch fear the truth.