We Love Torture
Marjorie Cohn
www.virtualcitizens.com
2007-10-10

http://www.virtualcitizens.com/articles/We_Love_Torture

Torture Endorsed, Torture Denied

[Editor’s comment:  In light of the 9-0 Supreme Court ruling against Khaled El-Masri that upheld two lower court rulings which found that Bush administration and all her neo-Nazis are immune from lawsuit for violating a series of federal statutes, treaties, and edicts of the U.S. Constitution (in the form of kidnapping, torture, extra-legal rendition, etc.), we should be prepared for more of the same should Judge Mukasey be confirmed as Attorney General (or should we change the job title to Generalissimo?). Given the recent revelations of the Supreme Court against El-Masri (thank goodness the former ACLU head and only Jewish member of the Court, Ruth Bader Ginsberg voted in support of torture, how else could she applaud similar practices of the Israeli government against Palestinian children lest she be called a hypocrite), additional words by law professor Marjorie Cohn explain the totality of the problem.]

They Said That They Don’t Torture (much)

The April 2004 publication of grotesque photographs of naked Iraqis piled on top of each other, forced to masturbate, fellate one another, beaten while handcuffed and blindfolded, harassed by dogs, sent shock waves around the world. Then George W. Bush declared, “I shared a deep disgust that those prisoners were treated the way they were treated.” Less than a year later, his Justice Department issued a secret opinion endorsing the harshest techniques the CIA has ever used, according to a report in the New York Times. These include head slapping, frigid temperatures, and water boarding, in which the subject is made to feel he is drowning. Water boarding is a torture technique. Once again, Bush is compelled to issue a denial. “This government does not torture people,” Bush insisted.

This was not the first time the Bush administration had officially endorsed torture, however. Current UC Berkeley law professor, John Yoo, then writing for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, penned an August 2002 memorandum that rewrote the legal definition of torture to require the equivalent of organ failure. This memo violated the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, a treaty the United States ratified, and therefore part of U.S. law under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

In December 2002, then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, approved interrogation methods that included the use of dogs, hooding, stress positions (like hanging someone from their arms as to dislocate their shoulders), isolation for up to 30 days, 20-hour interrogations, deprivation of light and sound, and water boarding. U.S. Navy General Counsel, Alberto Mora, told William Haynes, the Pentagon’s general counsel, that the techniques authorized by Rumsfeld “could rise to the level of torture.” As a result, Rumsfeld rescinded approval for some methods but reserved the right to approve others, including water boarding, on a case-by-case basis.

When Bush maintained last week (October 2007) that his government doesn’t torture prisoners, he stressed the necessity of interrogation to “protect the American people.” Notwithstanding the myth perpetuated by shows like “24,” torture doesn’t work. And we should all know this intuitively. As experts explain, people who are tortured will say anything if they think that such comments will make the torture stop.

Certified Lies, Produced By Torture

One of the first victims of the Bush administration’s 2002 torture policy was Abu Zubaydah, whom they called “chief of operations” for al Qaeda and bin Laden’s “number three man.” [Editor’s note: as reported by Harper’s, the Bush administration has taken credit for killing al-Qaeda’s number three and or mastermind of 9/11, three times]. Zubaydah was repeatedly tortured at the secret CIA “black sites.” They water boarded him, withheld his medication, threatened him with death, and bombarded him with continuous deafening noise and harsh lights.

But Zubaydah wasn’t a top al Qaeda man. Dan Coleman, one of the FBI’s leading experts on al Qaeda, said of Zubaydah, “He knew very little about real operations, or strategy … He was expendable, you know, the greeter ... Joe Louis in the lobby of Caeser’s Palace, shaking hands.” Moreover, Zubaydah was schizophrenic. According to Coleman, “This guy is insane, certifiable split personality.”

Coleman’s views were echoed at the top levels of the CIA and were communicated to Bush and Cheney. But Bush scolded CIA director George Tenet, saying, “I said [that Zubaydah] was important. You’re not going to let me lose face on this, are you?” Zubaydah’s minor role in al Qaeda and his apparent insanity were kept secret. In response to the torture, Zubaydah told his interrogators about myriad terrorist targets al Qaeda had in its sights: the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statute of Liberty, shopping malls, banks, supermarkets, water systems, nuclear plants, and apartment buildings. Al Qaeda was close to building a crude nuclear bomb, Zubaydah reported. None of this was corroborated but the Bush gang reacted to each report zealously.

Moreover, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), whom the Bush administration insists was the real mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was tortured so severely that the information he provided is virtually worthless, unless we want to believe that KSM could have planned to bomb buildings that did not exist.

More Of The Same Run-Around?

Bush’s insistence that his administration doesn’t torture rings hollow. He lied about weapons of mass destruction and a Saddam-al Qaeda connection in Iraq. He lied when he assured us his officials would not wiretap without warrants. As evidence of secret memos detailing harsh interrogation policies continues to emerge, we can’t believe Bush’s denials about torture. Democrats in Congress have demanded they be allowed to see the memos, but Bush said that the interrogation methods have been “fully disclosed [sic] to appropriate members of Congress.” Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) was unmoved. “I’m tired of these games,” said Rockefeller. “They can’t say that Congress has been fully briefed while refusing to turn over key documents used to justify the legality of the program,” added the Senator.

It is incumbent upon the Senate Judiciary Committee to interrogate Michael Mukasey during his attorney general confirmation hearing. As AG, Mukasey would oversee the department that writes interrogation policy. Mukasey should know that the Convention Against Torture prohibits torture in all circumstances, even in times of war.

Torture is a war crime. Those who commit or order torture can be convicted under the U.S. War Crimes Statute. [Editor’s note: unless the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is deemed to grant blanket immunity for any and all war crimes of the Bush administration] Techniques that do not rise to the level of torture but constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment also violate U.S. law. Congress should provide for the appointment of a special independent counsel to fully investigate and prosecute all who are complicit in the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody.

Marjorie Cohn
www.virtualcitizens.com