Throughout history, torture has been used to extract from its victims information that supports a foregone conclusion. This was done to our own soldiers in Vietnam. John McCain was a victim of this very type of torture and he helped the Vietnamese government to create propaganda for them so that they could bolster the support of their people.
As more information comes to light on this situation, it is becoming increasingly apparent that torture has been used against alleged terrorists in an effort to force a tie between al Quaeda and Saddam Hussein leading the United States to an illegal trumped up war and subsequent occupation of Iraq. Unfortunately, by a number of accounts, torture is still happening even today at places such as Guantanamo (http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/15-9).
There is no pending bomb that requires us to torture people for information that would save lives. That is a red herring. This type of situation, first off, rarely occurs. Second, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times during the period of one month and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in a similar amount of time. (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/04/20/2009-04-20_911_plotter_khalid_sheikh_mohammed_waterboarded_183_times_show_cia_memos.html). That strikes me as neither effective nor quick. Third, testimony has now been given that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had revealed important and actionable information before he was ever waterboarded and that, in fact, once he was tortured, he clammed up. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/14/MNU217JS8R.DTL). And, if there is abuse continuing to this day, what type of information are we hoping to extract from the detainees at this point? These men have been held for a number of years now with no connection to the outside world. What information could we be hoping to gather? Or are those charged with guarding these facilities just sadistic?
Stories are circulating that children have been abused in order to get testimony from their parents. Men and young boys were allegedly sexually abused in front of female prisoners or guards. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/may/22/iraq.usa1) (http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/07/15/hersh/index.html). What kind of country have we become that we allow this to go on in our names?
Perhaps the scariest discovery is the fact that those who consider themselves religious and frequent their churches more often are more apt to approve of torture. (http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=156)
Never in the 8 years of the Bush Administration has former Vice President Cheney been so talkative. It's quite obvious that his purpose in running the talk show circuit is to keep himself out of prison. After all, torture is against the law. US law. He has admitted publicly to millions of viewers that he approved the use of torture and that he does not regret its use. Cheney is trying to convince the world that the ends justify the means. But, when it comes down to it... torture is still illegal and in reality, it does not work.
Even our founding fathers, during the establishment of our country, deemed torture beneath the United States. (http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1217-30.htm).
In an order covering prisoners taken in the Battle of Princeton, Washington wrote: "Treat them with humanity, and let them have no reason to Complain of our Copying the brutal example of the British Army in their treatment of our unfortunate brethren…. Provide everything necessary for them on the road."
When did we lose our way?
While the United States has a new president, it is becoming more and more questionable as to whether he will uphold his campaign promises to end torture and clear our tarnished name. President Obama's refusal to release photos of torture, allegedly taken at other locations besides Abu Ghraib that would bolster evidence that torture was systemic and not just a few bad apples, and his more recent decision to revive military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees (http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE54E4S820090515?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews) lead me to believe that we will see a lot more of what we've seen for the last 8 years. President Obama's statement that those who perpetrated torture have already been charged and convicted is discouraging. It has become clear that those who perpetrated torture (and may STILL be doing so) are doing so under orders from the top. And all of those involved have not been held accountable.
We are also now hearing conflicting reports over what and who was briefed by the CIA on "enhanced interrogation techniques". Memos were recently released that included legal definitions of what was and was not considered torture that were apparently written after waterboarding was used on the detainees.
In a couple of years, the election cycle will be starting up again. Will the American people hold our representative government accountable for its atrocities once and for all? Will we fire those congressmen who continue to vote for war and block investigations into war crimes? Will we fire those who took impeachment off the table? Or allowed no-bid contracts to perpetuate to companies like Halliburton and Xe (nee Blackwater)?
Perhaps it's time to take some control away from our representative government and amend our constitution to include the National Initiative (www.vote.org). It is time that Americans take more responsibility for how our government functions and the decisions that it makes.
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