Sentence:  You know the type: "We'll officially forbid torture but if you—soldier or law enforcement officer or intelligence agent—engage in it illegally with the intent of protecting me and mine and it turns out that you just might have protected us then we'll pardon you. Then we can feel clean and safe and pure and virtuous and still be properly grateful." Despicable moral cowardice; that's what that is. Someone (Michael Kinsley, I think) called all this, "<WSD>salami slicing</WSD>." He was right, of course, it often is <WSD>salami slicing</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The achievement of a large change by incrementally asking for small concessions.