Torture, American Style

Man – and I thought the Rodney King incident was bad.

Read this, if you can stomach it. That warning isn't so much because of the graphic content (although it is graphic), but because of how disgusting this case is, and how there are now more incentives (or just the knowledge that military policy is to look the other way) to torture to get information.

The guy in question, tortured by the cops to sign a confession, was saved only because his wife was smart enough to start a tape recorder before she was forced to leave the house. Had she not, who would have believed her? Or the petty drug peddler? Who believes the US or cops or the Bush administration is capable of any of this, even when they're caught red-handed?

And they've been caught red-handed! But the shit don't stick, apparently. Because it's the exception, right? Right? Even when the President is trying to make torture a part of US military policy? So when is this unacceptable? When it's OK to practice on American citizens? Or "those people?" Or you?

Funny thing is, exactly what happened to "those people" at Abu Graib happened to an American citizen. On tape. With an FBI transcript of the tape. Those guys went to jail because a smart wife got lucky. What if they had caught her with the tape? Think she would have gotten her Miranda rights read to her?

Same with Abu Graib. One good American out of the rotten of that bunch who were committing war crimes in those pictures handed them over to his superior officer when they came across his lap. As he should have. Now, he's in a witness protection program, because many of his fellow servicemembers consider him a 'traitor." But the men who are beating, raping, killing – and taking pictures of it, to boot – are the real traitors to all Americans.

People say we're fighting "a war on terror," but what's the point if you become as corrupt as the people we're fighting? And since now the "land of freedom" is detaining and torturing human beings in the very dungeons built by our former enemies in Eastern Europe and even Iraq, who's winning the war, again? Did we even win the Cold War, really?

This is fucking embarrassing, and enrages me, as an American, more than any of these fairweather patriots could ever know. I can't see how any true patriot could support an administration that even hints at defending laws and policies that include torture, secret trials, interrogation without counsel, or even being arrested and held without charge, or the government even having to acknowledge they have you. That's what Patriots I and II would enable.

Oh, and your citizenship to be stripped if you are declared a "terrorist." And guess who decides that? Without guarantee of due process of the law? Yes, it may sound alarmist, but the legal groundwork for the state to be able to do this to American citizens – to disappear you completely without legal representation, recourse, or even being able to make that proverbial phone call – is already half-laid. Patriot I is law, see. If there had been more terrorist incidents, and the fear got to an unimaginable fever pitch, do you think they wouldn't have easily passed Patriot II, which the Republicans, by the way, had already conveniently (and secretly) drawn up?

When did current events start resembling the plot of a Star Wars movie?

Oh, that was Reagan, actually. My bad. When he used a science-fiction movie as the basis for a national defense strategy, against the protestations of all the scientific minds consulted on the project at the time.

Now, I guess we're back to Episodes I, II, and III for reals, right?

Abu Graib, CIA torture chambers in Eastern Europe, the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the Patriot Act, and the fact that Patriot II was penned, its existence denied, and then admitted only after the full text of it had been leaked to the Internet.

Wait – the Republicans wanted to impeach Clinton for getting his Johnson Waxed™ and lying about it, but Bush, Cheney, and company are taking a drippy shit all over both the spirit and letter of the American Constitution, and it's OK?

I don't know how any Bushites can even look in the mirror and call themselves "patriots" and wave the American flag. They need to take a good, hard look at the first ten amendments and the Constitution and think about the unjust war we're in, the lies we were told to get us there, the shredding of our basic American principles when we torture people in secret dungeons, and how this bodes well for us in the long run of history – not just the short run of politics and vested interests.

Comments

[Matt]

Michael, how about Ron Paul for President? He has been the most principled man in congress against the war and against all the s**t that has been going down.

[Richard]

Let me urge you to read" The Lucifer Effect"....how even "normal" people ,when put into a position of "power", can become monsters.

[JK]

I agree with this post of yours.

[JK]

I agree with this post of yours.

[The William G]

George Bernard Shaw had a few good words that explain all of this...

[MigukNamja]

Michael,

I couldn't agree more. The sickening realization I came to a while back was that these atrocities were not limited to a single administration or party. A very large percentage of the population was and is still complicit in the shredding of the Constitution and march towards a police state.

I used to be proud of my U.S. Passport, now I hide it. The sins my country has committed to others and to its own citizens will very likely be repaid in full.

[Nexasus]

MigukNamja, if you don't like your country then don't call yourself an American. Hell with the 'human rights', what a joke. You think these animals that brought down the twin towers are going to play nice? These animals understand only one thing: violence, eye for an eye.

[pm]

Hm, while I think MigukNamja is being a little over the top with his language, and my own sense of disappointment and dissatisfaction, which I suspect is no less than his, finds a different expression, Nexasus is the real anti-American. He or she is someone who can't uphold principles that are American to the core when the sh*t hits the fan.

If the people who brought down the Twin Towers are animals who understand only one thing, the response to that should be to also become animals who understand only one thing? We in the U.S. are given all the tools, both political and cultural, to understand far more than one thing, yet we don't because of fear. That's neither American or admirable.

[pm]

I think it's important to realize that these incidents are in some way directly attributable to the illegal removal of checks on military and law enforcement power by the Pentagon and the White House.

Sure, the "Lucifer" effect illustrates that human nature can be ugly and power brings out bad things in people. U.S. law is appropriately cynical about human nature, and from the Constitution on down, it has been careful to install checks to power to prevent abuses.

So you can't just say, "Oh, that's how people act when they have power." What kind of a lame excuse is that? The blame rests with those at the top who deliberately removed stops and leveled speed bumps in violation of both U.S. and international law--and not only allowed the "Lucifer" effect to happen, but counted on harnessing it. It also rests with those of us at the base, who turned a blind eye to the erosion of our legal protections and principles out of cowardice and laziness.

[Christian]

I understand the disappointment of MigukNamja and pm. But I don't see why MigukNamja should be frown upon.

If one used to think with categories like Patriotism (unconditional pride, "land of the free", "human rights" model, self-righteousness etc.) and Religion (God is on our side, "crusade," "sins," our even "the Constitution" (a sacred book) etc.), facing reality sometimes can only lead to either denial and flight forward or extreme disappointment. The same applies to any nation.

Sometimes I am glad that France lost WW II and the colonies. I mean, this made the French more humble and less likely to take the world as a playground. I am not joking about being humble: patriotism was a highly praised value in France until then. Not anymore, and this can help to think rationally about foreign politics. The British are still very patriotic, and I surmise it is due to their success in WW II. It could explain why the UK chose the USA as closest partner on foreign politics since 1956 (the Suez crisis).

And, please, Americans, stop calling each other "anti-American" because it doesn't help and you disappoint your friends abroad. At least, you must know that your reputation in the world has never been so bad, and this is (1) a fact; (2) a consequence of the US neo-imperialist foreign policy; (3) sad. Your country has the superpower to do so supergood, don't waste it against you.

About the original post, it is not established that these police officers were influenced by the political context, especially the foreign policy. Rogue officers exist everywhere, obviously.

[pm]

Christian,

If my point wasn't clear, it's that Americans who criticize the policies of the U.S. and express that they are angry about--or even ashamed of--them are being "good" Americans. The American system does not function without dissent and debate--without these, you end up with the disastrous course the country has taken since 9/11. Sometimes our political discourse seems harsh and aggressive. This is partially due to the fact that we have a combative two-party structure here. It may "look bad" to Europeans, since many European cultures and political ways are more consensus-based. But Americans generally don't let how we look to other nations affect our internal debates. We are, I hope, re-learning a hard lesson of another kind--that we do as individuals and as a nation have to care how our policies affect people in the rest of the world.

People like Nexasus mistake unconditional pride and support for patriotism, when in reality, people who believe this betray fundamental American principles. So I stand by my statement that people like Nexasus are anti-American.

Whether these specific law enforcement officers were rogues or not is hard to say without a review of that local police department. But the fact is that civil rights inquiries and investigations into police abuses declined sharply after 9/11 and remain inadequate. This is part of a systematic decline in accountability demanded of law enforcement that is a direct result of the "war on terror"--and in the long term, if left unchecked, this trend will hurt our society and change it for the worse--far more than the actual events of 9/11.

[Fantasy]

"The American system does not function without dissent and debate--without these, you end up with the disastrous course the country has taken since 9/11. Sometimes our political discourse seems harsh and aggressive. This is partially due to the fact that we have a combative two-party structure here. It may "look bad" to Europeans, since many European cultures and political ways are more consensus-based."

PM:

I think the situation is not really THAT different over here in Europe - dissent and debate within the political systems of the various European countries exist just as much as in the US but are, generally speaking, not considered to be issues of interest outside the respective countries.

In any event, I do not perceive Germany as a really "consensus-based society" (a common stereotype about Germany in the Us, Canada, and even in Britain).

[pm]

Fantasy, I did not mean dissent does not exist in Europe. I said it is essential to the American system, and the reason why I emphasized it is because a lot of Americans seem to be forgetting that these days. I said nothing about whether or not it is essential to various European countries. Clearly, dissent and debate are key to all representational governments.

A separate point was that American politics seems aggressive and over-the-top to Europeans. I theorized that this is partly because the American party system is largely binary; coalition-building is more important in multi-party systems such as in Europe.

As for whether Germany is consensus-based in the absolute sense--I did not say that. I said many European cultures and political systems are more consensus-based than the U.S. There is also quite a bit of variety between the various EU countries.

Not all Americans are unaware of cultural relativity. Of course, we all have our cultural blind spots, but it's not my goal to make absolutist statements about European culture based on American standards.

[MigukNamja]

To add more to my point, I believe my country has temporarily lost its way and needs to get back on a healthy, sustainable course - sooner rather than later. In the meantime, however, I am ashamed of what my country has become.

Also, I believe criticism and dissent are a healthy and necessary part of a functioning democracy. When one becomes intolerant of dissent, one has already begun to strip away freedom of speech, the rights of the minority, and has moved closer to tyranny.

Nexasus,
Don't also make the mistake of confusing criticism with ill will. Rather, if my country is to heal its wounds and have a healthy future for all its citizens, it must take a good look in the mirror to see how it is destroying itself.

Be also careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Dehumanizing an enemy puts you one step closer to being inhuman yourself and weakens any moral high ground you/we have.

[MigukNamja]

To add more to my point, I believe my country has temporarily lost its way and needs to get back on a healthy, sustainable course - sooner rather than later. In the meantime, however, I am ashamed of what my country has become.

Also, I believe criticism and dissent are a healthy and necessary part of a functioning democracy. When one becomes intolerant of dissent, one has already begun to strip away freedom of speech, the rights of the minority, and has moved closer to tyranny.

Nexasus,
Don't also make the mistake of confusing criticism with ill will. Rather, if my country is to heal its wounds and have a healthy future for all its citizens, it must take a good look in the mirror to see how it is destroying itself.

Be also careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Dehumanizing an enemy puts you one step closer to being inhuman yourself and weakens any moral high ground you/we have.

[Richard]

"Kill Japs, Kill More Japs" was the sign outside more than one militray facility during WW2...Much to the chagrin of the Army and marines, they found it essential that they portray the enemy as less than human..it would be easier for our soldiers to kill them..PTS is the result.
Dissent is everywhere in the US..even the much maligned Bill O'Reilly has , the horror, critized the Prez as well as Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson et al......and of course, dissent is the cornerstone of the Constuitional Republic but we are nowhere near a police state..I lived in Korea during the despotic regime of Park Chung Hee, now THAT was a police state..

[usinkorea]

Let's see. Terrible images of criminal abuse from 2004. Milk em as long as you can. The case made huge news. Still makes huge news. Massively reported and massively covered by all kinds of outlets in American society.

12 soldiers were also convicted, but Bush wasn't impeached or put in jail and neither was Cheney or Rumsfeld or generals up the chain of command, so that doesn't count, I'm sure. In fact, those 12 convictions just prove it was criminal and the fact major players are not in prison proves it was a cover up, I'm sure. (wikipedia argues that...)

It would be interesting to know which witness the site you linked to was quoting for the remarkable charges against Corsetti who was acquitted of charges -- thus proving how horrific the US government's actions have proven to be.

I'm not going to run down each of the items listed here and at that post highlighted that lay out all the vast evidence of systematic torture and war crimes committed by the Bush administration and Republcian (Nazi) party. It would be pointless for a number of reasons - 1. The two sides of this debate are polarized and common ground unlikely to be found and 2. the "tip of the iceberg" and "cover up" theme make any amount of press coverage of incidents and convictions "wholly inadequate" to combat the "reality" --- nothing but conviction of the Republican leadership for crimes against humanity will surely do...

But, being curious after coming across this post, I did a quick look around, and found this article at the NY Times

www.nytimes.com/2006/06/02/world/asia/02bagram.html

Two former interrogators testified for the prosecution under grants of immunity.

One, former Sgt. Selena M. Salcedo, said she had seen Private Corsetti pull down the pants of a high-level Qaeda figure, Omar al-Farouq, during her first Bagram interrogation and later smack the prisoner on his buttocks with an empty plastic water bottle. The other, Sgt. Jennifer Higginbotham, said Private Corsetti had joked to her and other soldiers about an incident in which he demeaned a prisoner.

But the principal accusations of abuse came directly from Mr. Darbi, whom an intelligence official identified as a brother-in-law of a 9/11 hijacker, Khalid Almidar.

Mr. Darbi, whose remarks were contained in a poorly translated deposition taken at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, picked Private Corsetti out of a selection of photographs of soldiers at Bagram and said he was the “fat Italian” interrogator who had interviewed him 10 to 15 times. In fact, Private Corsetti was involved in only two interrogations of Mr. Darbi.

OK.....

Maybe that throws a different light on the non-conviction here - maybe not - I guess it depends.....

And I guess it depends on how much that non-conviction explodes all the other convictions - or not - I guess...

I mean, the fact that the officers involved in that Tenn. case were put in prison isn't the point. The point is their convictions shows just how rampant crimes against humanity are under the Patriot Act. Just look around....

.....do a google search for abuse of suspects.....go back years.......look all over the US........the number of abuse cases just keeps stacking up year after year...........It is clear since Bush came into office, he has Nazified the entire nation....

And if you go back and do the same searches for abuses for the whole decaded of the 1990s.....all those examples of abuse just goes to show how sucessful Reagan was in pushing the nation toward fascisim....

Every where you look, for years and years, you can find examples like this....

And that's just the tip of the iceberg....

[JK]

I won't bring Reagan into this as I really don't know what his role was in today's present system, but that f*cking idiot, Bush (as in W), has made us Americans look like the ultimate hypocrites by talking about how Saddan Hussein tortured people and yet he himself oversees a gov't that secretly sponsored the torture of terrorist suspects....with many of them NOT terrorists but who are STILL held in prison under US authority.

[Clint]

The depth of depravity of Bush, Cheney, et al. is about 1,000 times more disgusting after considering the likely verasity of "Loose Change..."