Now that the U.S. Senate report on the Central Intelligence Agency's torture practices is out, the question remains whether its revelations do anything to fill the global vacuum of moral authority, which the U.S. created by reacting so violently to the 9/11 attacks.
Will the U.S. once again be the world's moral leader? Global reaction so far suggests there's a lot of work to be done before it can assume that role.
The report is clearly meant to help re-establish the U.S. as a guardian of Western humanist values. In presenting it, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said history would judge her and the other authors by their "commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say 'never again.'"