Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking
-Henry Mencken

So what’s on the mind of people at the CIA these days?

CIA counterterrorism officers have signed up in growing numbers for a government-reimbursed, private insurance plan that would pay their civil judgments and legal expenses if they are sued or charged with criminal wrongdoing, according to current and former intelligence officials and others with knowledge of the program.

The new enrollments reflect heightened anxiety at the CIA that officers may be vulnerable to accusations they were involved in abuse, torture, human rights violations and other misconduct, including wrongdoing related to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They worry that they will not have Justice Department representation in court or congressional inquiries, the officials said.

The anxieties stem partly from public controversy about a system of secret CIA prisons in which detainees were subjected to harsh interrogation methods, including temperature extremes and simulated drowning. The White House contends the methods were legal, but some CIA officers have worried privately that they may have violated international law or domestic criminal statutes.

If only one person in an otherwise rational group transfers risk, it’s probably paronoia. But when a group of rational people all decide to transfer that same risk, it probably means they see a vulnerability.

I would have been prouder to see a story about how CIA officers where managing risk of prosecution for torture by avoiding the risk, but that’s between them and their commander. Actually, I want to believe that at many of those officers did avoid the risk and we simply don’t hear about it because Doing The Right Thing is not news.

I wonder if the policy pays if someone is sentenced to prison? How about executed? Those threats are in-scope under War Crimes law.