Official U.S. Torture Policy
 

What was the purpose of the investigations into prisoner abuse this past May, with Secy. of Defense Rumsfeld and Pentagon officials feigning shock and denying knowledge of prisoner treatment as shown in pictures taken at Abu Ghraib prison? They were consulted on a report signed in April 2003 that meticulously detailed what torture and abuse could be used on prisoners. The report offers legal alibis for disregarding anti-torture laws and the kinds of defense government officials could use if they are accused of torture.

Gen. James T. Hill, as head of the US Southern Command, oversees the prison at Guantanamo and claims it is "a professional, humane detention and interrogation operation...bounded by law and guided by the American spirit." The pictures I've seen of Guantanamo don't represent the spirit of the America I know and love.

A military official who worked on the report claimed a need for relaxing the rules since they weren't getting any intelligence information from the detainees so they applied more pressure and used techniques such as writing on the prisoners' bodies, putting women's underwear on their head and threatening to harm their families. Some of the other methods used at Guantanamo include limiting food, denying clothing, doing body cavity searches, denying sleep for up to 96 hours, and shackling prisoners in "stress positions."

The report was compiled by a working group appointed by the Defense Department's general counsel, William J. Haynes II. Air Force General Counsel Mary Walker headed the group, comprised of top civilian and military lawyers from each branch. They consulted with the Justice Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies. Those in the group claim not to know if President Bush has ever seen the report. I find it hard to believe however, that so many senior officials and Departments in the administration could be involved in a work that would determine a policy toward detainees that detailed torture as a method of interrogation and advised on ways to get away with it, without his approval, or at the very least, his knowledge.

Attempts were made, by some political appointees heading the group, to claim that constitutional powers gave President Bush, as commander-in-chief, unlimited "authority over matters of torture". Matters of torture? This is America in the 21st century! His boyhood penchant for torturing animals and blowing up frogs with firecrackers will likely come in handy. It's not a required skill on most resumes, unless the job you're applying for is to be the absolute authority over matters of torture. How many of those jobs are there around, except for the president of an S & M club, or apparently president of the United States?

That this administration would convene a group to write a 100 page report actually defining the degree of pain, both mental and physical that could be applied, listing approved torture, (four methods require approval by Secy. Rumsfeld), and finding loopholes to claim we can't be held responsible under any anti-torture law, shows the despicably sinister nature of this White House.

Bush arranged televised messages to tell the world that the abuses pictured in the international media did not represent America, and that those responsible (scapegoats) will be punished. It can only be viewed as American hypocrisy and insincerity in light of the fact that we've had a written torture policy for a year. If Bush was trying to incite terror attacks on this nation, he couldn't find a more successful way for terrorist recruiters to fan the flames of hatred against us as the Great Satan. One can only hope that none of our troops are ever captured, since they will now be in danger of being treated in kind.

This administration has driven America's reputation into a cesspool. Our once respected ethics and morality will now be seen as nothing more than a mask covering an ugly cruel face that justifies any brutality as long as we're the ones administering it. Can we ever again be taken seriously if we try to promote human rights or condemn human rights abuses in other countries?

What has happened to American pride that we allow our leaders to continue to degrade us and our nation? At what point will we finally say, "Enough!"

6-9-04