By Brigitte L. Nacos
Today, both the New York Times and the Washington
Post, editorialize strongly against President Bush’s and his
administration’s secret torture policy as an alleged valuable tool in the
so-called “war on terrorism.” The fact that detainees have been tortured
physically, mentally, and spiritually in American-run prisons in Afghanistan,
Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere is nothing new—certainly not since
some of the shocking visuals of torture in Abu Ghraib were publicized. But the
claim that these “abuses” were the misguided deeds of a few, low-level rogues
in uniform and against highest level administration directives is as far
removed from the truth as the President’s insistence that the United States
government does not torture. As the Washington
Post editorial page puts it, “PRESIDENT BUSH said Friday, as he has many times
before, that "this government does not torture people." But
presidential declarations can't change the facts. The record shows that Mr.
Bush and a compliant Justice Department have repeatedly authorized the CIA to
use interrogation methods that the rest of the world -- and every U.S. administration before this one -- have regarded as torture: techniques such as
simulated drowning, induced hypothermia, sleep deprivation and prolonged
standing.”
At a recent conference, I listened to the presenter of a
paper who explained the American media’s post-9/11 reluctance to use the
“t” word with the difficulty of defining what torture is. I couldn’t disagree
more. In the face of the shoking Abu Ghraib images, there was not then and there is not now any doubt that this
was torture—not just “mistreatment” or, as so often described in the news,
“alleged abuse.” But in the post-9/11
misconception of patriotism most of the news organizations did not dare to use
the “t”-word unless it was used by either administration officials denying that
they condoned torture or by human rights groups condemning this practice.
As for the White House and the Department of Justice, they
knew all along what kinds of interrogation practices constitute torture. But
instead of making sure that America’s longstanding position against torture and
for human rights was followed, they redefined the meaning of the “t”-word “ to
neatly exclude the things American jailers were doing and hid the papers from
Congress and the American people,” as the New
York Times put it.
By practicing the very human rights violations that the United States officially condemns, when practiced by other states, the Bush administration
embraced the most abhorrent deeds of human rights violators—including
terrorists of the bin Laden/al-Qaeda variety. To put it differently, instead of
upholding our most esteemed values in the wake of 9/11, Mr. Bush and his clique
threw them overboard and wasted America’s
reputation as defender of human rights.
While last week’s reporting by the New York Times brought to light the extend of the secret memos in support of torture, there was no doubt about the President’s insistence that he reserved the right of determining what CIA interrogators can and cannot do. He said so in a slap into Congress’s face, when he signed the Military Commissions Act into law last year that was supposed to end torturous interrogations.
It might well be that the administration’s violation of America’s once stellar stance on human rights and individual freedom in the name of counterterrorism has all kinds of consequences, however unintended they may be. I think of the actions of American mercenaries in Iraq but also the overzealous actions of security personnel right here at home. In an e-mail, one of the frequent posters on this blog, Tony, mentioned among other cases the recent and still mysterious death of Carol Anne Gotbaum while in police custody at t Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.
Well now we all have to live with the shame this administration has brought upon us..
If people don't see that picture as human rights abuse..then what the hell kind of country have we become?
Shameful..simply shameful
Posted by: Hoosierhoops | October 09, 2007 at 08:10 PM