Posted by Damozel | Consider, via Crooks and Liars, this letter from retired Judge Advocates General to Senator Patrick Leahy, in which these four military lawyers seek to dispel the seemingly impenetrable fog which is currently clouding the issue (and preventing key Democrats from doing the right thing). They assert:
(1) "This issue above all demands clarity: Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal.
(2) The issue is "critically important... - but it is not, and never has been, a complex issue, and even to suggest otherwise does a terrible disservice to this nation."
(3) "Cruelty and torture - no less than wanton killing - is neither justified nor legal in any circumstance...Waterboarding detainees amounts to illegal torture in all circumstances. To suggest otherwise - or even to give credence to such a suggestion - represents both an affront to the law and to the core values of our nation."
(4) "Abu Ghraib and other notorious examples of detainee abuse have been the product, at least in part, of a self-serving and destructive disregard for the well-established legal principles applicable to this issue. This must end."
(5) In 2006, the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the authority to prosecute terrorists as war criminals, in connection with which Judge Advocates of the General were asked to respond to questions concerning “the use of a wet towel and dripping water to induce the misperception of drowning (i.e., waterboarding) . . .” Those JAGs "unanimously and unambiguously agreed that such conduct is inhumane and illegal and would constitute a violation of international law, to include Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions....."The Rule of Law is fundamental to our existence as a civilized nation. The Rule of Law is not a goal which we merely aspire to achieve; it is the floor below which we must not sink." (Retired JAGs Send Letter To Leahy: “Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal.”)
You can see the full text by clicking on the article.
Senate Democrats are letting down those of us who look to them to protect our interest. By failing to resist the appointment to the position of our nation's most prominent law enforcement officer a man who doesn't understand what torture is, they are showing that they are truly out of touch with the feelings of the party's base.
I don't think it is too much to expect the Attorney General of the United States to take a firm stand against a practice that throughout history has been regarded as torture, that every sane person agrees is torture, and that is in fact torture. If he can't do that, then he doesn't belong in a position of power (including on the federal bench). This is not a matter on which further evidence is required or that is governed by context.
I never expected to live to see the day when people in positions of responsibility would be publicly debating whether there are circumstances in which the US---MY country---can legally use torture.
RELATED BN-POLITICS POSTINGS:
Bush Administration Blocked Critic Who Experienced Waterboarding
Giuliani: Is Waterboarding Torture? "It Depends on Who Does It."
Romney's Pick for National Security Adviser Would Torture 'in a Heartbeat.'
I say 'Torture'; You Say 'Harsh Interrogation Techniques'.... (Updated)
More Secret & Illegal Maneuvering re: the Administration's Use of Torture
Tales of Repression in Burma; First Lady Laura Bush Takes a Stand
General Says Rumsfeld Misled Congress re: Abu Ghraib
Colin Powell Calls for Closing of Guantanamo
Senate Takes Swipe at Secret CIA Prisons, Seeks to Learn What Bush Knew Before Invading Iraq
Can an activity that is deemed torture really be torture if reporters volunteer to have it done to them? Reporters did volunteer--I watched the segment on the news. No reporter volunteers to be starved for a month, gang raped, burned or beaten. Those are torture. So again, who volunteers to be tortured?
Posted by: Bob | December 17, 2008 at 09:34 AM
I will grant you that the reporter called it torture, but Americans have the habit of turning everything into a major deal. Before you go ballistic over that comment, consider how many degrees of sexual assault exist. Patting a butt is not the same as forceable rape. Lumping them all together drags everything down or up, depending on your world view. Individuals in other countries understand fully what torture truly is and are not afraid to use it. I did not see the reporter volunteering to be captured by an Islamic rebel and see if what they do is really torture. That being said, I do agree that torture is rarely successful and using it is very short sighted. I would rather see people focus on the uselessness of the torture, rather than what constitutes "real torture". Watch a program on the torture used in the Dark Ages. THAT was torture and it was extremely cruel. I am not really into blogging, etc, so you folks can hash this over and I will return to my daily grind.
Posted by: Bob | December 17, 2008 at 02:28 PM