When the Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote his epic, "The Gulag Archipelago," some Americans read it to measure the gulf between the brute savagery of communism and the principled standards of free, civilized nations. But apparently some Americans took it as a helpful how-to volume.
Where would CIA officers have gotten the idea to extract cooperation from detainees by keeping them awake for as long as 180 hours at a time, or more than a week? Maybe from the jailers in Solzhenitsyn's grim account, who used the method on a mass scale.
Enforced sleeplessness, he explained, was favored because it was cheap, easy and left no marks on the prisoner — not to mention that it was effective. Solzhenitsyn attested from bitter experience that "it is not really necessary to use a rack or hot coals to drive a human being out of his mind."
But American intelligence officials also learned something from the Soviets about manipulating language to conceal reality. When our enemies use methods like this, they amount to torture. When we do, they don't. A newly released 2002 memo from a Bush administration official authorized keeping prisoners awake because "we are not aware of any evidence that sleep deprivation results in severe physical pain or suffering."
That document, signed by Assistant Atty. Gen. Jay Bybee, also deprecates the unpleasantness of waterboarding, which makes the victim feel he is literally drowning. "The waterboard, which inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever, does not, in our view, inflict 'severe pain or suffering,'" he announced. "The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering." Did I mention that it leaves no marks?
The Bush administration and its defenders have long ridiculed anyone protesting the abuse of detainees. Former CIA director Michael Hayden and former Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey, writing recently in The Wall Street Journal, lamented that under President Obama, "the U.S. will not longer interrupt the sleep cycle of captured terrorists even to help elicit intelligence that could save the lives of its citizens." The message is simple: It's not really torture, and it works.
The former is obviously untrue as well as dishonest: Solzhenitsyn makes that clear.
So do numerous U.S. government reports accusing various regimes of violating human rights through such forms of torture as sleep deprivation. Likewise, the U.S. government used to take a negative view of waterboarding. But apparently we only object when we're not the ones doing it.
That doesn't change the nature of the practice. In a confidential 2007 report that recently was leaked, the International Committee of the Red Cross outlined the harsh methods used on CIA detainees and reached the blunt conclusion that they "amounted to torture and/or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."
But some people don't care whether these methods qualify as torture as long as they yield useful information — as Hayden and former Vice President Dick Cheney attest they do. Whether that's true is hard for an outsider to know. The Bush administration claimed that the waterboarding of Khalid Sheik Mohammad helped foil a planned 2002 attack on Los Angeles — forgetting that he wasn't captured until 2003. Maybe we'll get a better answer if the administration grants Cheney his request that it declassify material supporting his case, as it should.
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has his doubts. "The information gained from these techniques was valuable in some instances, but there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means," he said. "The bottom line is these techniques have hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."
And if effectiveness is the only gauge, why even debate whether these techniques fit the definition of torture? The problem with using "it worked" as an argument is that it justifies too much. By that rationale, we can justify subjecting enemy captives to every form of torture ever devised. We can even justify torturing and killing their spouses, siblings, parents and children, right in front of them.
Cheney and others have yet to advocate going that far. But if they really believe what they say about the techniques we've used, here's a question they need to answer: Why not?
Steve Chapman blogs daily at newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/steve_chapman. To find out more about Steve Chapman, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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Just because it is more refined, romanticized in the movies, and approved by a Harvard MBA, torture is still wrong. Any bad behavior should be exposed, investigated, and punished forthwith.
Comment: #1
Posted by: Paul M. Petkovsek
Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:43 AM
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After the arrest of the 'grinning' pirate and his 15 minutes of fame, just the thought of our government saying 'no more waterboarding', 'no more inhumane punishment', I would like to ask "Why the 'hello-dolly' not! Do you idiots think he was just out for a 'ski on the waters?' Politicians have lost it! These terrorists, and also the ones already living on American soil, are bent on killing all Americans and taking over or haven't you air heads figured this out yet? Taxpayers know that "AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH" means just that, so stop trying to 'paint a rose colored garden' for these killers. INCIDENTALLY, prisons are too good for these people and Taxpayers' money shouldn't be used to keep them up, even the Arizona 'tent city' is too good for them! As for OBAMA LITERALLY 'SHAKING AND EXTENDING HIS HAND & TELLING CHAVEZ & CASTRO' = 'I'M NOT TALKING JUST TO BE TALKING' IS GOING TO MAKE THESE DICTATORS LOVE HIM AND AMERICA, HE'S OH SO MISTAKEN. THESE PEOPLE MAIM, RAPE AND KILL THEIR OWN KIN, AND HE THINKS THEY'LL SPARE HIM AND AMERICA? GIVE ME A BREAK! TAXPAYERS are saying "Obamas' radical and socialist changes are more than can be tolerated; therefore, look for the Tea Parties to increase and all politicians pay to be cut to $12,000.00 yearly! Or, sell them a one-way ticket to the foreign countries they've sold America to, taking all assets to pay off the trillions they've borrowed without Taxpayers' consent! Gitmo looks better for them everyday, doesn't it? THE FOLLOWING WAS SENT TO ME AND I'M FORWARDING IT ALONG! ================================================================================ There was a Pied Piper who said, “We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change it!” *And the people said, “Change is good!” Then he said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,”…*And the people said “Sock it to them!” “and redistribute their wealth.” *And the people said, “Show me the money!” And then he said, “Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody” *And Joe the plumber said, are you kidding me?” And Joe's personal records were hacked and publicized. *And one lone reporter asked, “Isn't that Marxist policy?” And she was banished from the kingdom! Then someone asked, “With no foreign relations experience, how will you deal with radical terrorists?” And the Pied Piper said, “Simple. I'll sit down and talk with them and show them how nice we really are and they'll forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!” Then the Pied Piper said, “I'll give 95% of you lower taxes.” *And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes.” So the Pied Piper said, “Then I'll give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!” *And the people said, “Show me the money!” Then the Pied Piper said, “I'll tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!” *And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed. And he said, “I'll mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage.” *And the people said, “Gim'me some of that!” Then he said, “I'll penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.” *And the people said, “Where's my rebate check?” Then the Pied Piper actually said, “I'll bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!” *And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don't care for that part about higher electric rates.” So the Pied Piper said, “Not to worry. If your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we'll bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!” Then he said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing.” *And the people said, “Ole`! Bravo!” And they made him King! And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy slowed even further. Then the Pied Piper said, “I am the Messiah and I'm here to save you! We'll just print more money so everyone will have enough!” But our foreign trading partners said, “Wait a minute. Your dollar isn't worth what it was. You'll have to pay more.” *And the people said, “Wait a minute. That's not fair!” And the world said, “Neither are these other, idiotic programs you've embraced. You've become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you'll play by ourrules!” *And the people said, “What have we done?” But it was too late. If you think this is a fairy tale, open your eyes and ears. It's happening RIGHT NOW! Did you know the president's name is really an acronym… One Big Astounding Mistake America - WHICH SPELLS, YOU GUESSED IT 'OBAMA'
Comment: #2
Posted by: Shirley deLong
Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:29 PM
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