QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself.”
Justice Louis Brandeis
Olmstead v. United States 1928
SENSE AND NONSENSE—TORTURE AND UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
From the editor: President Obama followed his promise of “transparency” in releasing four torture memos. However, he and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel were terribly naïve in thinking the country could simply move forward without getting to the truth about the approval of torture as an official policy of the United States. This country cannot pretend to protect our constitution without determining when and why key protections guaranteed by our constitution, such as the protections against cruelty, were circumvented and who approved these actions.
The Compass has published three well-researched articles on torture in the last three years. “Torture And Abuse Is Our Official Policy” appeared in the issue published October 29, 2005 (vol. ii, no. 24). This article documents Vice-President Dick Cheney’s 45-minute meeting with Senator John McCain to exempt the CIA from prohibitions against “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” of detainees.
The entire issue published Sept. 30, 2006 (vol. iii, no. 22) details the passage of the Military Commissions Act (S.3930), which allowed at least seven specific types of interrogation methods that would be considered torture under the Constitution. Senator John McCain voted for this legislation that specifically allows the CIA to continue waterboarding and rendition of detainees to secret sites. To this day, McCain claims he voted against torture while knowing that he was among 53 Republicans and 12 Democrats who voted to exempt the CIA from the prohibition against “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” In passing this legislation, the Bush administration and Congress simultaneously violated Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949; the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) of 1987; and the US War Crimes Act of 1994. This issue also asks the question, “Who the Hell Is John C. Yoo?” A UC Berkeley law professor, Yoo co-authored the Aug. 1, 2002 torture memo while serving in Bush’s Justice Department.
“The ‘Devil’s Details’ On Torture” appears in the November 1, 2007 (vol. iv, no. 11) issue of The Compass. This article contains a timeline that documents Bush’s stream of lies by omission and commission on the subject of torture.
The authoritative report on the use of torture and its ineffectiveness is a book by Jane Mayer titled, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals.
Chapter 9 of the book describes an incident on December 17, 2002 when Alberto Mora, then General Counsel of the United States Navy assigned to the Pentagon with a rank equivalent to a four-star general, first learned of problems at Guantanamo. Subsequent to Mora’s exposure to “the package” of secret documents tracing the origins of coercive interrogation policies reaching all the way up the chain of command to Secretary Rumsfeld, the following reaction was elicited from Mora:
If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America -- even those designated as ‘unlawful enemy combatants.’ If you make this exception, the whole Constitution crumbles. It’s a transformative issue. (“The Dark Side,” p. 219)
For anyone with the time and inclination to do a little research, there is documented evidence that Bush administration officials approved the use of interrogation methods considered illegal since the 18th century in this country. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 is simply an attempt to insulate the Bush administration in general, and the CIA in particular, from prosecution under heretofore universally accepted prohibitions against cruel and inhuman treatment.
Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of any investigation into torture will be to politicize the issue when, by definition, the use of torture touches the very “soul” of America. That is, conservatives will claim that the Obama administration is seeking revenge. Liberals will claim that our nation has a moral imperative to know the truth.
With the release of the torture memos, the genie is out the bottle. There will be an investigation or a series of investigations. It is predictable that, in so doing, the philosophical division between conservatives and liberals will deepen and widen. To mitigate the effects of this division, every effort must be made to conduct a non-partisan investigation that goes where the law of the land takes it.
Arrogant conservatives such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld who believe that cruelty equals “toughness” know very little about themselves, about human nature and the values of the country they swore to uphold. Each television appearance by Cheney simply showcases his arrogance and lack of self-knowledge. However, it is in Cheney’s short term self-interest to reframe the debate in partisan terms because any debate will mobilize the vocal conservative political base. He hopes such theatrics will poison the jury of public opinion.
And the 24-hour media loves a partisan debate because it will be controversial. They will simply interview a conservative and a liberal and call it “objective” journalism.
The truth is that liberals and conservatives are in this mess together. The only outcome worth pursuing is to reinforce the rule of law. It remains to be seen whether an investigation into the use of torture will reinforce the rule of law or deteriorate into a partisan war that jeopardizes the pursuit of solutions to all of the other problems we face as a nation.
President Obama is right; we do need to turn the page and solve the problems of health care, global warming, inadequate educational opportunities, and a weak economy. However, like Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee says, “Frankly, I would like to read the page before we turn it.”
We must learn the truth; but in so doing, we need the wisdom to read the lawful page on torture without a sense of retribution or revenge and without indulging in a false distinction between “good guys” and “bad guys.”
Maynard Chapman, Editor
The Compass
THE 13 APPROVED METHODS OF INTERROGATION
EDITOR’S NOTE: Following are verbatim excerpts from the first of two memos, dated May 10, 2005, which approves the use of 13 specific interrogation methods. These so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” are quoted here in graphic detail because conservative talking heads consistently argue that these techniques either do not rise to the level of torture or that torture is acceptable if it produces actionable intelligence (the “ticking time bomb” argument). First, there is a considerable body of expert testimony that the use of these techniques was not and is not effective; and second, these techniques clearly violate our Constitution, our laws, our treaties, and our values. These techniques are clearly cruel, sadistic, and indefensible. Every word appearing after this note is taken directly from memos signed by an official of President Bush’s Office of Legal Counsel.
“1. Dietary manipulation. This technique involves the substitution of commercial liquid meal replacements for normal food, presenting detainees with a bland, unappetizing, but nutritionally complete diet.”
“2. Nudity. This technique is used to cause psychological discomfort, particularly if a detainee, for cultural or other reasons, is especially modest. For this technique to be employed, ambient temperature must be at least 68 [degrees Fahrenheit]…. In addition, female officers involved in the interrogation process may see the detainees naked; and for purposes of our analysis, we will assume that detainees subjected to nudity…are aware that they may be seen naked by females.”
“3. Attention grasp. This technique consists of grasping the individual with both hands, one hand on each side of the collar opening, in a controlled and quick motion. In the same motion as the grasp, the individual is drawn toward the interrogator.”
“4. Walling. This technique involves the use of a flexible, false wall. The interrogator pulls the individual forward and then quickly and firmly pushes the individual into the wall. It is the individual’s shoulder blades that hit the wall. During this motion, the head and neck are supported with a rolled hood or towel that provides a C-collar effect to help prevent whiplash….Depending on the extent of the detainee’s lack of cooperation, he may be walled one time during an interrogation session (one impact with the wall) or many times (perhaps 20 or 30 times) consecutively.”
“5. Facial hold. This technique is used to hold the head immobile during interrogation. One open palm is placed on either side of the individual’s face. The fingertips are kept well away from the individual’s eyes.”
“6. Facial slap or insult slap. With this technique, the interrogator slaps the individual’s face with fingers slightly spread. The hand makes contact with the area directly between the tip of the individual’s chin and the bottom of the corresponding earlobe. The interrogator thus ‘invades’ the individual’s ‘personal space.’”
“7. Abdominal slap. In this technique, the interrogator strikes the abdomen of the detainee with the back of his open hand.”
“8. Cramped confinement. This technique involves placing the individual in a confined space, the dimensions of which restrict the individual’s movement….The duration of confinement varies based upon the size of the container….Confinement in the larger space may last no more than 8 hours at a time for no more than 18 hours a day.” (Note: The “larger” space is one in which the individual “can stand up or sit down.”)
“9. Wall standing. The individual stands about four to five feet from a wall, with his feet spread approximately to shoulder width. His arms are stretched out in front of him, with his fingers resting on the wall and supporting his body weight. The individual is not permitted to move or reposition his hands or feet.”
“10. Stress positions. There are three stress positions that may be used….The three stress positions are (1) sitting on the floor with legs extended straight out in front and arms raised above the head, (2) kneeling on the floor while leaning back at a 45 degree angle, and (3) leaning against a wall generally about three feet away from the detainee’s feet, with only the detainee’s head touching the wall, while his wrists are handcuffed in front of him or behind his back.”
“11. Water dousing. Cold water is poured on the detainee either from a container or from a hose without a nozzle….At the conclusion of the water dousing session, the detainee must be moved to a heated room if necessary to permit his body temperature to return to normal in a safe manner….The minimum permissible temperature of the water used in water dousing is 41 [degrees Fahrenheit].”
“12. Sleep deprivation (more than 48 hours). In this method, the detainee is standing and is handcuffed, and the handcuffs are attached by a length of chain to the ceiling. The detainee’s hands are shackled in front of his body, so that the detainee has approximately a two-to-three foot diameter of movement. The detainee’s feet are shackled to a bolt in the floor….In lieu of standing sleep deprivation a detainee may instead be seated on and shackled to a small stool. The stool supports the detainee’s weight, but is too small to permit the subject to balance himself sufficiently to be able to go to sleep….The maximum allowable duration for sleep deprivation authorized by the CIA is 180 hours, after which the detainee must be permitted to sleep without interruption for at least eight hours.”
“13. The ‘waterboard.’ In this technique, the detainee is lying on a gurney that is inclined at an angle of 10 to 15 degree to horizontal, with the detainee on his back and his head toward the lower end of the gurney. A cloth is placed over the detainee’s face, and cold water is poured on the cloth from a height of approximately 6 to 18 inches. The wet cloth creates a barrier through which it is difficult—or in some cases not possible—to breathe.”
[Note: The August 1, 2002 memo co-authored by John Yoo and Jay Bybee (currently a tenured federal judge) actually authorizes a technique in which insects are placed in a confinement box.]
Copyright © 2009, The Compass Society
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