George W. Bush pulled out of an appearance in Denver scheduled for tomorrow upon learning that WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange had been invited to appear at the same conference via video.
I wonder if this policy would apply to those who ran his torture program. Or those who ran his program of extraconstitutional kidnappings. Or all the politicians that tore constitutional rights apart with the PATRIOT and FISA acts.
This is old news, but unfortunately is still relevant:
“There should be little doubt from American history that we consider [waterboarding] as torture, otherwise we wouldn’t have tried and convicted Japanese for doing that same thing to Americans. I would also hope that he would not want to be associated with a technique which was invented in the Spanish Inquisition, was used by Pol Pot in one of the great eras of genocide in history and is being used on Burmese monks as we speak. America is a better nation than that.” -Senator John McCain
Even older is McCain’s Newsweek editorial from 2005, which is truly worth the few minutes it takes to read. He very accurately puts the whole issue in a nutshell:
I don’t mourn the loss of any terrorist’s life. Nor do I care if in the course of serving their ignoble cause they suffer great harm. They have pledged their lives to the intentional destruction of innocent lives, and they have earned their terrible punishment in this life and the next. What I do mourn is what we lose when by official policy or official neglect we allow, confuse or encourage our soldiers to forget that best sense of ourselves, that which is our greatest strength–that we are different and better than our enemies, that we fight for an idea, not a tribe, not a land, not a king, not a twisted interpretation of an ancient religion, but for an idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights.
Now, in this war, our liberal notions are put to the test. Americans of good will, all patriots, argue about what is appropriate and necessary to combat this unconventional enemy. Those of us who feel that in this war, as in past wars, Americans should not compromise our values must answer those Americans who believe that a less rigorous application of those values is regrettably necessary to prevail over a uniquely abhorrent and dangerous enemy.
It’s just too bad that these words have now gone unheeded for years. Time is running out – statutes of limitations will go into effect next year for some of the crimes committed – we must act soon to assert that which sets us apart from our enemies.
Christopher Hitchens of Vanity Fair used to call waterboarding “extreme interrogation,” and not torture. He went so far as to test his convictions, and videotaped his own waterboarding. The resulting article, “Believe Me, It’s Torture,” and the accompanying video, are incredible work. There is no question about the nature of waterboarding, and our own government has prosecuted others for doing it. Yet President Bush vetoed a bill outlawing our use of waterboarding, a move that shoots past mere partisanship and stops near actual evil.
Our country has a terrible blemish on its history. I pray for forgiveness and mercy towards America for this inexcusable transgression.
In case you missed it, the United States withdrew from the Human Rights Council yesterday.
But Eric Sottas, director of the International Organisation against Torture sees it as a a political gesture. “The US has always clearly shown its opposition to the Council. This is a slightly more public way of putting pressure on it in order to raise the stakes. What is more the Bush dynasty is coming to the end of its mandate,” he said. “It reminds me of the time when the Nixon administration, which backed Pinochet in Chile, chastized the UN for criticising the Chilean dictator. But when Carter was elected in 1977, the American government took the floor at the Human Rights Commission to ask forgiveness. After a presidency like that of Bush, you can expect some important changes in US policy on human right.”
Have we no shame? We are supposed to be a leader in justice, freedom, and humanity. But instead, our leaders seem to be turning this into a rogue state. We are using torture methods invented during the Spanish inquisition, for anyone trying to find comparable acts.
Thankfully both McCain and Obama won’t put up with this. Hopefully they can clean up this mess we’re in, and hopefully it doesn’t get much worse before they take charge.
John Ashcroft spoke at Knox college – a rather liberal school. There was, as expected, a great deal of people protesting his visit, with varying levels of maturity. Howerver, one student had a very revealing exchange with Ashcroft:
ME: First off, Mr. Ashcroft, I’d like to apologize for the rudeness of some of my fellow students. It was uncalled for–we can disagree civilly, we don’t need that. (round of applause from the audience, and Ashcroft smiles) I have here in my hand two documents. One of them, you know, is the text of the United Nations Convention against Torture, which, point of interest, says nothing about “lasting physical damage”…
ASHCROFT: (interrupting) Do you have the Senate reservations to it?
ME: No, I don’t. Do you happen to know what they are?
ASHCROFT: (angrily) I don’t have them memorized, no. I don’t have time to go around memorizing random legal facts. I just don’t want these people in the audience to go away saying, “He was wrong, she had the proof right in her hand!” Because that’s not true. It’s a lie. If you don’t have the reservations, you don’t have anything. Now, if you want to bring them another time, we can talk, but…
ME: Actually, Mr. Ashcroft, my question was about this other document. (laughter and applause) This other document is a section from the judgment of the Tokyo War Tribunal. After WWII, the Tokyo Tribunal was basically the Nuremberg Trials for Japan. Many Japanese leaders were put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture. And among the tortures listed was the “water treatment,” which we nowadays call waterboarding…
ASHCROFT: (interrupting) This is a speech, not a question. I don’t mind, but it’s not a question.
ME: It will be, sir, just give me a moment. The judgment describes this water treatment, and I quote, “the victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach.” One man, Yukio Asano, was sentenced to fifteen years hard labor by the allies for waterboarding American troops to obtain information. Since Yukio Asano was trying to get information to help defend his country–exactly what you, Mr. Ashcroft, say is acceptible for Americans to do–do you believe that his sentence was unjust? (boisterous applause and shouts of “Good question!”)
ASHCROFT: (angrily) Now, listen here. You’re comparing apples and oranges, apples and oranges. We don’t do anything like what you described.
ME: I’m sorry, I was under the impression that we still use the method of putting a cloth over someone’s face and pouring water down their throat…
ASHCROFT: (interrupting, red-faced, shouting) Pouring! Pouring! Did you hear what she said? “Putting a cloth over someone’s face and pouring water on them.” That’s not what you said before! Read that again, what you said before!
ME: Sir, other reports of the time say…
ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read what you said before! (cries of “Answer her fucking question!” from the audience) Read it!
ME: (firmly) Mr. Ashcroft, please answer the question.
ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read it back!
ME: “The victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach.”
ASHCROFT: (shouting) You hear that? You hear it? “Forced!” If you can’t tell the difference between forcing and pouring…does this college have an anatomy class? If you can’t tell the difference between forcing and pouring…
ME: (firmly and loudly) Mr. Ashcroft, do you believe that Yukio Asano’s sentence was unjust? Answer the question. (pause)
ASHCROFT: (more restrained) It’s not a fair question; there’s no comparison. Next question! (loud chorus of boos from the audience)
The student has a detailed account of the entire event, with pictures and video, here.
I’ve said it before, but it bears saying again: Torture is not a political issue. Our own inhumanity encourages our adversaries to treat us with the same evil. This madness must be stopped.
Daily Kos has a very in-depth article containing a memo signed by President Bush that set policy exempting detainees from the Geneva conventions, an international law that affords basic human rights to prisoners. Not a law giving them nice, cushy amenities they don’t deserve – just protections from torture, and allowances for noncombatant organizations like the Red Cross to care for their basic health needs.
The Bush administration spin machine has been doing its best to prevent any blame from falling on current officials or anyone central to the administration. But here it is: a memo signed by the President breaking our commitment to international law and thus authorizing torture and other inhumane acts (page 1) (page 2).
I really thought we were above tactics from the middle ages. Everyone knows that torture doesn’t produce usable intelligence. We have failed the demands of being a world leader. We have failed our own standard of “justice for all.” We have endangered our own future by treating our enemies unjustly and inhumanely, inviting them to treat us with the same gross lack of humanity.
This is not a political issue. Every remaining presidential candidate will not continue this madness, but the damage to our reputation in the world and in history is done.
