Denounce Torture

The New York Times today released a story explaining the results of a Senate Arms Services Committee hearing on interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo Bay. The hearing revealed the sad irony that interrogation tactics used by the CIA against detainees at Guantanamo Bay were ripped straight out of a playbook used by Communist captors against American soldiers in the Korean War. Back then, the United States denounced these tactics as torture.

How is it that the tools used by a state notorious for its human rights violations, and denounced by the United States are now being employed by the United States itself?

What's worse, an American sociologist during the Korean War helped to create a training regimen to expose American soldiers to Communist techniques, to inoculate American soldiers against these techniques. Why? To counter military fears after reports revealed many American captives had been brainwashed and forced to falsely confess to crimes.

It is bad enough our government is using its old enemies' tools against its new enemies. It is even worse that they justify using these techniques by saying it yields valuable information they need to protect our country, when they know full well that the information extracted from such methods is most likely false.

This confirms what Amnesty International USA has been saying all along: torture and harsh interrogations do not yield reliable information, violate human rights, and only damage our reputation throughout the world.

The United States was founded on the principle of justice for all. It is time to live up to that principle. Give the detainees fair trials - if they are found innocent, set them free, and if they are found guilty, punish them according to the law.

Why should we expect others to live up to standards we can't meet ourselves?

-Ilana

Christopher Hitchens, writing for Vanity Fair, voluntarily underwent waterboarding to determine for himself, from an outsiders point of view, if it is indeed a reasonable addition to the interrogation process. After entering the debate, calling the practice "extreme interrogation", Hitchens decided to settle the matter the best possible way; trying it himself. Would firsthand experience induce a change of heart?

Well, from the title of Hitchens's article, "Believe Me, It's Torture", we have our answer. The current administration is rationalizing to deem it acceptable interrogation. Borne of the rampant fear-mongering that lingers to this day from after the September 11th attacks, America is heading down a path of becoming as immoral as the values it is fighting against. Though my opinion is not an uncommon one (luckily), I'll state it anyways: America, lead by example. I know its clichéd advice, but clichés become clichés for good reason; they are the plain and simple truth.

There are those who need to be detained and interrogated, and I am not implying that interrogation need be of optimum comfort. Still, human rights cannot be thrown aside because we are at war. The real moral litmus test of a country is not at a time of peace, I can tell you that much.

We must demand that our government live up the standard it demands of others; take and treat non-combatants and prisoners of war according to the guidelines set out in the Geneva Conventions and do not use torture in interrogation techniques. Hint: if soldiers are being trained to resist a certain torture technique, that means it classifies as torture, even when it is called interrogation to the public here.

-Faigy Abdelhak