A tortured stance on torture

[babylonsister]

A tortured stance on torture

By H.D.S. Greenway | October 9, 2007

IN HALF a century of reporting around the world, I have found that there was usually a feeling that the United States stood for standards of liberty, human rights, and the dignity of mankind. The Bush administration has taken us off that gold standard and drained away much of that reservoir of respect. The horrors of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo have eaten away at America's credibility and moral standing, dismaying our friends and empowering our enemies.

Washington shuddered last week when The New York Times revealed that the Justice Department, under the direction of Alberto Gonzales, had undermined the will of Congress, the Supreme Court, as well as hard-won national and international standards with secret legal opinions supporting torture. "Shocking" was the word Republican Senator Arlen Specter used, and well he should.

Men and women of good will may differ on how much power the executive branch should have, and how much of our privacy and civil liberties need to be curtailed in an age of terrorism. As the former deputy attorney general, James Comey, who tried to stem the tide of the administration's malfeasance, said: there are "agonizing collisions" between the law and the desire to protect Americans. But no good will can be ascribed to those who secretly sought to undermine the republic by their underhanded advocacy of torture.

Instead of entering into an honest debate, the administration spoke of its "abhorrence" of torture while at the same time secretly promoting it. Not surprisingly, the fine hand of Vice President Dick Cheney and his counsel, David Addington, could be discerned. Despite his bluster, President Bush, "the decider," has turned out to be a weak president, riddled with insecurities masked by stubbornness, who has allowed his subordinates to gnaw away at the Constitution.

Some lawmakers, notably Senator John McCain who knows a thing or two about torture from his years as a prisoner in Hanoi, tried to halt the moral rot. But the secret opinions of the Justice Department found that the Detainee Treatment Act would not force any change in torture practices, allowing for water-boarding and all the rest to continue.

Perhaps the most demoralizing revelation was that while the public voice of America was urging democracy and openness on our allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt, other Americans - with the blessing of the administration - were going around to the cellar door to get briefed on how best to torture prisoners. Even the interrogation methods of the Soviet Union, which surely should have been discredited by now, were brought into play.

more...

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/09/a_tortured_stance_on_torture/

[Mandate My Ass]

1. It still goes on...

I'm waiting for our representatives to act on, or even comment on, the videotapes of torture at Abu Ghraib Rumsferatu himself thought were chilling.

<Cue crickets>

Great article. Talk about the elephant in the living room.

[pinto]

2. A great op-ed. Thanks for the find.