By itself, this accomplishes nothing but giving themselves moral cover. It's just words; there are no consequences. Consider:
* The message is clear: You can do these things, we'll let them slide at the time, and much later, too late to have any effect, we'll issue meaningless condemation and policy. Does anyone doubt that the next time a President or other authority in the US government faces this choice, they will disregard the APA completely and assume they will go along?
* There is no punishment for the perpetrators. These people planned and aided the commission of viscious, brutal crimes on a mass scale. They are sociopaths and should be in prison, the same place we put the Nazi's, rapists and mass murderers.
* There is no concern for the victims. There is absolutely no mention of them, inquiry into the effects on them, attempt to help them, or restitution. It confirms the government's effective position that, as "terrorists", they are sub-human and their rights and welfare can be disregarded.
So many people lacked the courage to stand up to the criminal and immoral acts of the US government at the time. It remains one of the most depressing (literally, de-moralizing) experiences of my life.
EDIT: I should add that the APA may have taken other actions that address my concerns. I reworded some of the above to address that possibility.
The only lever the APA has is to revoke membership of participants, that won't stop the government and it won't stop many individuals from participating.
As far as I can tell, they aren't a licensing body, so that revocation wouldn't even stop someone from continuing to work in the field.
> The only lever the APA has is to revoke membership of participants
They have a voice and influence. They could push hard for these things; they could have pushed hard when they were happening. Certainly they have the resources to address my third point, about the welfare of the victims.
* The message is clear: You can do these things, we'll let them slide at the time, and much later, too late to have any effect, we'll issue meaningless condemation and policy. Does anyone doubt that the next time a President or other authority in the US government faces this choice, they will disregard the APA completely and assume they will go along?
* There is no punishment for the perpetrators. These people planned and aided the commission of viscious, brutal crimes on a mass scale. They are sociopaths and should be in prison, the same place we put the Nazi's, rapists and mass murderers.
* There is no concern for the victims. There is absolutely no mention of them, inquiry into the effects on them, attempt to help them, or restitution. It confirms the government's effective position that, as "terrorists", they are sub-human and their rights and welfare can be disregarded.
So many people lacked the courage to stand up to the criminal and immoral acts of the US government at the time. It remains one of the most depressing (literally, de-moralizing) experiences of my life.
EDIT: I should add that the APA may have taken other actions that address my concerns. I reworded some of the above to address that possibility.