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Executive Order for Torture
December 21, 2004 ( politics )
What kind of "Christian" do we have in the Presidential office who not only overlooks ongoing torture, but indeed ordered it? You can claim to be on God's side all you want, but if you're going to profess to be a Christian, shouldn't you follow the rules your God has laid down, in stone no less?
Jesus proclaims liberty to the captives and freedom to the oppressed, and lists concern for the prisoner among the issues for judgement (Matthew 25:35-40).
We should be concerned about the conditions in which prisoners are held and the treatement they receive (Hebrews 13:3).
The ACLU had to file a lawsuit to obtain these documents, as the government "failed" to respond to their Freedom of Information Act for them.
To quote the ACLU's press release:
NEW YORK -- A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up."These documents raise grave questions about where the blame for widespread detainee abuse ultimately rests," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "Top government officials can no longer hide from public scrutiny by pointing the finger at a few low-ranking soldiers."
...
Another e-mail, dated December 2003, describes an incident in which Defense Department interrogators at Guantánamo Bay impersonated FBI agents while using "torture techniques" against a detainee. The e-mail concludes "If this detainee is ever released or his story made public in any way, DOD interrogators will not be held accountable because these torture techniques were done [sic] the 'FBI' interrogators. The FBI will [sic] left holding the bag before the public."
The document also says that no "intelligence of a threat neutralization nature" was garnered by the "FBI" interrogation, and that the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) believes that the Defense Department's actions have destroyed any chance of prosecuting the detainee. The e-mail's author writes that he or she is documenting the incident "in order to protect the FBI."
"The methods that the Defense Department has adopted are illegal, immoral, and counterproductive," said ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer. "It is astounding that these methods appear to have been adopted as a matter of policy by the highest levels of government."
...
* Another FBI agent's account of interrogations at Guantánamo in which detainees were shackled hand and foot in a fetal position on the floor. The agent states that the detainees were kept in that position for 18 to 24 hours at a time and most had "urinated or defacated [sic]" on themselves. On one occasion, the agent reports having seen a detainee left in an unventilated, non-air conditioned room at a temperature "probably well over a hundred degrees." The agent notes: "The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night." (Aug. 2, 2004)
I've archived a set of the documents: ACLU FOIA archive on torture.
What kind of animals have we become? Not just those perpetrating these horrendous acts of torture, not just those condoning it, not even just Bush ordering it -- but us. We're sitting here.
I just sent an email too McCain, in the hope that his unfortunate experiences as a POW himself, and his position in the Republican party, could provide a voice of reason from within the GOP. Read on for the text of the letter...
Senator McCain,
I have always respected your independent view as a traditional conservative, and your impressive history of service to our country.
I am very interested in your feelings on the recent ACLU discovery of possible executive orders authorizing the use of inhumane torture against our POWs (http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17216&c=206), and the ongoing support of not abiding by the Geneva Conventions as seen in Bush's pending appointment of Gonzales to the Secretary of State?
It seems to me that when the US, the strongest (by far) military power in the world, and (formerly, at least) respected Democracy, is using methods of torture against captives in extra-judicial settings, we have absolutely no moral ground to stand on when we request or even expect humane treatment of our soldiers and American POWs by their captors.
I beg of you, as a prominent Republican, to try and persuade your fellow congressmen and women to come out against the use of such inhumane treatment of our captives, for the sake of common moral decency if not for the sake of our current and future American POWs.
I am sure you, having been the victim of torture as a POW, understand this issue in a way I hope to never know.
Posted by griffjon at December 21, 2004 02:18 PM
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