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.