There is Nothing Un-American About Demanding Accountability for Torture
posted by: Aaron Pendell 168 days ago
I've been reading over the comments on my numerous posts regarding the Bush administration's use of torture, and there is something I have to get off my chest. The comments cover the range of the political spectrum, and many are extremely thoughtful. For that, I am thankful. However, the suggestion that I'm not supportive of the military or that I'm "anti-American" because I support holding Bush, Cheney, et. al., accountable for their illegal policies is way off the mark. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
As more and more evidence of how and why the torture policy was pursued by Bush emerges, I feel a responsibility as an American citizen to publicize it as much as I can. I do so, not to undercut the morale of American troops, but because the very top of their chain of command gave them orders that were as poorly conceived as they were illegal. If these facts aren't publicized, then what is the remedy when the Commander in Chief screws up? And make no mistake, in the case of authorizing torture, Bush screwed up big time.
Consider what we have learned just this week from CIA documents released as a result of an ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Though the new documents are still heavily redacted, they serve to dismantle the Bush administration's stated justifications of torture, particularly as they apply to Abu Zubayda.
From Adam Serwer at The American Prospect, posted 16 June 2009:
The Washington Post's report on documents recently released by the CIA in relation to a lawsuit from the ACLU merely confirms what we already knew: Zubayda was not the al-Qaeda "leader" the Bush administration thought he was, a wrongheaded conclusion that led to the entire legal rationale behind the Bush torture policy. The purpose of the Jay Bybee memo written in August 2002 was to justify the torture of Zubayda--which we now know did absolutely nothing to make the country safer and was premised on a number of erroneous conclusions: Zubayda was a mere fixer, not a high-ranking terrorist, and he wasn't withholding important information because he was hardened through terrorist training but because he didn't have anything else to say.
Jason Leopold, a journalist who has filed extensive reporting on Bush's interrogation program, detailed the former administration's pursuit of legal cover for the rendition and interrogation of Zubayda weeks before his capture. Within his June 16, post at The Public Record, Leopold notes:
[The March 13, memo] is one of several that the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has scrutinized in a four-year-old investigation into the legal work of [John] Yoo and [Jay] Bybee, according to legal sources at the DOJ who have seen a still classified report on the work of the OLC.
The memo, prepared for then Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes, was the product of several high-level meetings that took place over the course of several weeks that Yoo and Bybee participated in along with senior Bush administration officials.
The legal opinion was not, legal sources said, the result of a question "asked and answered" but rather the result of Bybee and Yoo acting as advocates for administration policy and providing the legal framework so the White House could carry out its plans.
Perhaps the most maddening aspect of all this is that much of this new evidence merely adds to what we already knew from the painstaking journalistic efforts of Jane Mayer, Ron Suskind, and many others. Aside from the wrongheaded presumption that torturing detainees could produce valuable intelligence, Bush officials knew their interrogation techniques were illegal, blatant violations of treaties to which the US is a signatory. Instead of acknowledging that fact, they actively sought to craft "legal arguments" for potential legal and political fallout. Further, they've actively sought to mislead the public regarding the effectiveness of torture.
Admittedly, I am not a soldier, but I think that I'm safe in the assumption that when a soldier violates the law, retribution from his or her superiors is swift and severe. My question to you, critics and supporters alike is, shouldn't their superiors -- up to and including the Commander in Chief -- be held to the same standard?
If you've read this far then you know my opinion. If you agree and want to do something about it, I encourage you to visit the ACLU Restore the Rule of Law page to learn more. If you disagree, watch the below clip and you'll discover at least two soldiers who agree with me.
Read more: bush, cia, politics, political, torture, cheney, opinion, aclu, Interrogation, waterboarding, george w bush, dick cheney, bush administration, un-American, john yoo, abu zubayda, commander in chief, aclu lawsuit, jay bybee, olc memos
comments
For those who question the condition of this country and compare Bush to Carter or even Reagan, you would be surprised if you looked up all the data, including various bailouts AND the recessions, etc. Reagan was no saint, but he was charming like Bush. Many people fell for it and it blinded them to what really went on in the country and certain illegal or immoral actions that took place. Just for the heck of it, take a peek at the history of gas prices over a few decades and keep in mind which presidents presided over those years in particular.
http://www.randomuseless.info/gasprice/gasprice.html
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Pamela, I shouldn't be waterboarded because I am not a terrorist. Daniel and Barbara, I am glad to see some on here are not mesmerized by the anointed one. Cheryl sent me a private e-mail, and I would like to let her know that we had double-digit interest rates, gasoline was rationed, way over $1 a gallon, only had certain days we could get it. That's when Jimmy Carter the democrat was president. Thermostats were mandated with a lock box, set at 68 in the winter and 78 in the summer. Jimmy Carter caused a lot of damage to this country because he was so stupid and still is. Lyndon Johnson the democract was a womanizer, thief, got rich off the Viet Nam War.....so all your complaints didn't start with George Bush and Dick Cheney. If the countries that needed punishing had been punished all along over the years, we might not be in as big a mess as we are. And it continues to get much worse on a daily basis. Torture is having what we have in the White House right now.
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What amazes me is some people are still lumping all detainees into the terrorist category, a la "Salem witchhunt" , based upon Bush/Cheyney "Shadow policies" to hid their ineptitude. To date 84% of the detainees which have gotten hearings have been released as innocent. This means Bush/Cheyney tactics were right 16% of the time!!! A horrible track record, but it would appear to track their approval rating of ~20%.
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Bush and Cheney were the executive officers and all torture was done with their full knowledge and approval. Therefore, they should be held to accountability.
If anyone doubts waterboarding is torture, then you shouldn't have any problem with being waterboarded to show what a piece of cake it is. Then, repeat 88 times so you are able to get the full spectrum of experience of just one waterboarded individual. No problem for you, right?
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Why all the crying about torture on this site? Most here could not care less about torture. They promote abortion and baby torture by sucking their brains out all the time...oh yeah, the call that choice, not torture.
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What obama and his cronies are doing to the American people is much worse than we ever did to gitmo detainees. Let's fight for Americans instead of worrying about the treatment of terrorists. Get real.
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Barbara Cindric, I'm with you 100% - I'm more concerned with the torture being dealt out to us, American citizens, than I am those folks at gitmo. Torture coming from the present administration in the form of No Jobs, higher taxes, cap & trade, healthcare, spending money like a drunken sailor - yes, even Colin Powell is now saying that. We are headed for serfdom, he wants total control of the United States, has put his hands on everything. We have no rights left - and you all worry about terrorists being "mistreated" - 3 got waterboarded, big deal.
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I am angry that torture was performed in the name of the citizens of the United States of America. No matter how they phrase it, waterboarding and other "techniques" are torture. Everytime I hear the phrase, "Homeland Security", it makes me think of Hitler and the Nazis. No one is above the law and, if we don't call George Bush and Cheney both into account, we are all guilty.
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That IDIOT in the white house cannot & willnot produce change for one simple reason. He thinks he can just throw money (yours & mine) at every single problem. Well my grand kids & their kids & their kids (that's 3 generations if your counting) will have to suffer & pay for his answers. This country needs to tighten it's belt not take it OFF!!! I have not seen ONE not ONE promise kept!!! Their are still lobbist's people are still loosing their home, food lines are longer than ever and Mr. Change is going on as if we are still living in the 90's. All I have to say is you asked for it & you got it and it ain"t no Toyota!!! Where"s the BEEF!!!
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Have you people bumped your heads or what? The Geneva what? Where is this great power of the U.N, with the people in Iran right now???? Where i ask you? Not a peep out of them and you what to honor something they represent? Freedom of an election is all these people want and fair at that, where is the U.N??? They must believe it's alright for what's going on ya think. We should pull out of this bad thing they are worthless, if not then take a look at Africa......Bring our boys and gals home and defend our borders period.
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