As sophisticated as I may be politically, when it comes to the mastery of late twentieth century digital technology, I'm still a novice; so, please, bear with me.
The Daily Kos is one of the greatest sources of progressive opinion out there, and all those bloggers are digging up information on everything from plate tectonics and volcanism to torture. I recently found a blog that should make the torture apologists hang their heads in shame (of course, they won't.) I don't know how to put the link here, because the Kos sites confuse the hell out of me, but I'll give the full citation so my intrepid readers, if any, can find it. The title says it all, and you must read the entire piece. Everything that professional FBI and police interrogators have said about proper techniques of interrogation and the inefficacy of torture may have had its start with one man during World War Two.
"The Torture-Free True Story of the Best USMC Interrogator in WWII" by 8ackgr0und NO15e
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
None So Blind
Dwell on the past- lose an eye
Forget the past- lose both eyes
Russian proverb
On December ninth, the New York Times published an editorial by Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, in which he called on President Obama to pardon the torturers from Bush and Cheney on down.
Romero argues, correctly, I've come to believe, that only by granting formal pardons can we get recognition of the crimes that the Bush administration perpetrated. Without prosecutions there is, in effect, a 'tacit' pardon that leaves the door open for the future use of torture. The likelihood of torture being used in the future, especially after another attack, is quite high. Indeed, only John McCain, of all leading Republicans, has repudiated the use of torture. A victim of torture himself, McCain said that the torture policy "stained our national honor." As a combat veteran, unlike the chicken hawks of the Bush administration and Republican leadership, I think the senator has a grasp of the world that can't be gotten from fictional movies and television shows.
The report is being derided by the right who seem to think that torture is not only right and effective, but isn't torture in the first place. After all, the Bush administration gave itself legal permission to use 'enhanced interrogation techniques' such as: sleep deprivation, stress positions, and waterboarding. We prosecuted Japanese and Germans as war criminals for using the same 'EIT's'. I guess I agree that enhanced interrogation techniques are not torture- torture has fewer syllables.
Senator McCain realizes that the torture techniques "not only failed their purpose- to secure actionable intelligence to prevent further attacks on the U.S. and our allies- but actually damaged our security interests, as well as our reputation as a force for good in the world." He also, correctly, said that "This report strengthens self-government and, ultimately, I believe, America's security and stature in the world." That should shut the mouths of the apologists, but it won't.
The ability to simply and forever mark the torturers as criminals is something that I don't believe the President will do. But he should. We must have the argument now, while we have the luxury of time; not after we are confronted with smoking ruins someday, after the inevitable attack. The American people have never shown a willingness to let contemplation interfere with grief and anger on a national scale. After Lincoln's assassination, Herman Melville wrote a poem, The Martyr, in which he said: " ...the people in their weeping/ Bare the iron hand;/ Beware the people weeping/ When they bare the iron hand." The punitive measures the south faced during reconstruction were certainly due to the shadow of blame for his death.
I don't think that future presidents will necessarily let the criminality of torture stop them. We have already seen the self justification that the Bush administration used. A future President, so inclined, will justify his actions on our grief, and the bankrupt maxim that 'the ends justify the means'.
The pathetic, heart-breaking reality of this country today is that we tortured. Part of the remedy- pardoning the criminals- is more pathetic and heart-breaking, but it is a start.
Postscript: The statute of limitations now shields some of the torturers. I believe that torture should be considered a war crime without a statute of limitations. Perhaps we can someday change the law before we replay this tragedy.
Notes
The proverb comes from memory. I am nearly positive that I encountered it reading Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. The possibility exists that I'm mistaken.
The editorial cited is from the December 9, 2014 New York Times editorial- Pardon Bush and Those Who Tortured by Anthony D. Romero
All the McCain quotes are from the CNN Politics website article McCain makes passionate defense for torture report's release by Alexandra Jaffe 12/10/14
I encourage you to read the Melville poem The Martyr. Melville's emotions are palpable: the raw grief and anger that the country felt are fresh. He also correctly prophesied the harsh punishment the South would soon face. You may find this poem on the internet, or, more appropriately, check out a collection of his poetry from the library. It occurs to me that Project Gutenberg probably has them. I'm going there now.
Forget the past- lose both eyes
Russian proverb
On December ninth, the New York Times published an editorial by Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, in which he called on President Obama to pardon the torturers from Bush and Cheney on down.
Romero argues, correctly, I've come to believe, that only by granting formal pardons can we get recognition of the crimes that the Bush administration perpetrated. Without prosecutions there is, in effect, a 'tacit' pardon that leaves the door open for the future use of torture. The likelihood of torture being used in the future, especially after another attack, is quite high. Indeed, only John McCain, of all leading Republicans, has repudiated the use of torture. A victim of torture himself, McCain said that the torture policy "stained our national honor." As a combat veteran, unlike the chicken hawks of the Bush administration and Republican leadership, I think the senator has a grasp of the world that can't be gotten from fictional movies and television shows.
The report is being derided by the right who seem to think that torture is not only right and effective, but isn't torture in the first place. After all, the Bush administration gave itself legal permission to use 'enhanced interrogation techniques' such as: sleep deprivation, stress positions, and waterboarding. We prosecuted Japanese and Germans as war criminals for using the same 'EIT's'. I guess I agree that enhanced interrogation techniques are not torture- torture has fewer syllables.
Senator McCain realizes that the torture techniques "not only failed their purpose- to secure actionable intelligence to prevent further attacks on the U.S. and our allies- but actually damaged our security interests, as well as our reputation as a force for good in the world." He also, correctly, said that "This report strengthens self-government and, ultimately, I believe, America's security and stature in the world." That should shut the mouths of the apologists, but it won't.
The ability to simply and forever mark the torturers as criminals is something that I don't believe the President will do. But he should. We must have the argument now, while we have the luxury of time; not after we are confronted with smoking ruins someday, after the inevitable attack. The American people have never shown a willingness to let contemplation interfere with grief and anger on a national scale. After Lincoln's assassination, Herman Melville wrote a poem, The Martyr, in which he said: " ...the people in their weeping/ Bare the iron hand;/ Beware the people weeping/ When they bare the iron hand." The punitive measures the south faced during reconstruction were certainly due to the shadow of blame for his death.
I don't think that future presidents will necessarily let the criminality of torture stop them. We have already seen the self justification that the Bush administration used. A future President, so inclined, will justify his actions on our grief, and the bankrupt maxim that 'the ends justify the means'.
The pathetic, heart-breaking reality of this country today is that we tortured. Part of the remedy- pardoning the criminals- is more pathetic and heart-breaking, but it is a start.
Postscript: The statute of limitations now shields some of the torturers. I believe that torture should be considered a war crime without a statute of limitations. Perhaps we can someday change the law before we replay this tragedy.
Notes
The proverb comes from memory. I am nearly positive that I encountered it reading Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. The possibility exists that I'm mistaken.
The editorial cited is from the December 9, 2014 New York Times editorial- Pardon Bush and Those Who Tortured by Anthony D. Romero
All the McCain quotes are from the CNN Politics website article McCain makes passionate defense for torture report's release by Alexandra Jaffe 12/10/14
I encourage you to read the Melville poem The Martyr. Melville's emotions are palpable: the raw grief and anger that the country felt are fresh. He also correctly prophesied the harsh punishment the South would soon face. You may find this poem on the internet, or, more appropriately, check out a collection of his poetry from the library. It occurs to me that Project Gutenberg probably has them. I'm going there now.
The Song of Wandering Aengus
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread:
And when white moths were on the wing;
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and tides are done
The silver apples of the moon
The golden apples of the sun.
William Butler Yeats
...I will find out where she has gone...
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Yeah- He's Running
Tonight, during an interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Senator Rand Paul referred to "Hillary's war in Libya."
Considering the fact that he had just spoken of Bush's war in Iraq, not Cheney's or Powell's war, and that the Republicans have consistently criticized President Obama for 'leading from behind' in Libya, it seems a bit strange. Unless he's planning to run against Clinton and is desperate for ammunition.
He still has to maneuver around his state's law keeping him from running for two offices simultaneously.
He's running.
Considering the fact that he had just spoken of Bush's war in Iraq, not Cheney's or Powell's war, and that the Republicans have consistently criticized President Obama for 'leading from behind' in Libya, it seems a bit strange. Unless he's planning to run against Clinton and is desperate for ammunition.
He still has to maneuver around his state's law keeping him from running for two offices simultaneously.
He's running.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Send in the Clowns
In the coming months a whole bunch of people are going to finally admit that what they've been doing is running for President.
I won't deal with the Dems yet, because the Reepubs are so much more fun.
Rick Perry is under indictment, and faces trial.
Chris Christie is being investigated by a grand jury.
Rand Paul has announced that he is running for reelection to the Senate, and Kentucky law prohibits anyone from appearing twice on a ballot (say as a Senator and Presidential candidate.)
Rob Portman is declining to run.
There have been many Romney sightings- something that only happens when he wants to be President.
And Jeb Bush is saying that he won't cater to the extremists in order to win the primary.
Wow.
The only thing better would be if some of last election's superstars try to squeeze into the car.
I won't deal with the Dems yet, because the Reepubs are so much more fun.
Rick Perry is under indictment, and faces trial.
Chris Christie is being investigated by a grand jury.
Rand Paul has announced that he is running for reelection to the Senate, and Kentucky law prohibits anyone from appearing twice on a ballot (say as a Senator and Presidential candidate.)
Rob Portman is declining to run.
There have been many Romney sightings- something that only happens when he wants to be President.
And Jeb Bush is saying that he won't cater to the extremists in order to win the primary.
Wow.
The only thing better would be if some of last election's superstars try to squeeze into the car.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Quote of the Post
"The afternoon came down as imperceptibly as age comes to a happy man."
"There was an ache in his heart like the farewell to a dear woman; there was vague sorrow in him like the despair of Autumn."
"Time is more complex near the sea than in any other place, for in addition to the circling of the sun and the turning of the seasons, the waves beat out the passage of time on the rocks and the tides rise and fall as a great clepsydra."
John Steinbeck Tortilla Flats (all quotes)
I re-read this book last year just to find the last quote. I found the other two as well. Somehow I'd missed them the first time out. That's what is so wonderful about visiting old friends: they constantly surprise you. By the way: a clepsydra is a water clock. I had to look it up myself the first time through.
"There was an ache in his heart like the farewell to a dear woman; there was vague sorrow in him like the despair of Autumn."
"Time is more complex near the sea than in any other place, for in addition to the circling of the sun and the turning of the seasons, the waves beat out the passage of time on the rocks and the tides rise and fall as a great clepsydra."
John Steinbeck Tortilla Flats (all quotes)
I re-read this book last year just to find the last quote. I found the other two as well. Somehow I'd missed them the first time out. That's what is so wonderful about visiting old friends: they constantly surprise you. By the way: a clepsydra is a water clock. I had to look it up myself the first time through.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)