Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty,(rafflaw), Guest Blogger
This entire week the torture enthusiasts have been back on all of the news channels exclaiming their happiness that their “enhanced interrogation techniques” worked. Of course, they are talking about waterboarding and other methods of torture. Why are Michael Mukasey, John Yoo and other members of the George W. Bush administration once again declaring that torture is good policy and that it was successful in helping to get Osama Bin Laden?
“Osama bin Laden was killed by Americans, based on intelligence developed by Americans. That should bring great satisfaction to our citizens and elicit praise for our intelligence community. Seized along with bin Laden’s corpse was a trove of documents and electronic devices that should yield intelligence that could help us capture or kill other terrorists and further degrade the capabilities of those who remain at large. But policies put in place by the very administration that presided over this splendid success promise fewer such successes in the future. Those policies make it unlikely that we’ll be able to get information from those whose identities are disclosed by the material seized from bin Laden. The administration also hounds our intelligence gatherers in ways that can only demoralize them. Consider how the intelligence that led to bin Laden came to hand. It began with a disclosure from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), who broke like a dam under the pressure of harsh interrogation techniques that included waterboarding. He loosed a torrent of information—including eventually the nickname of a trusted courier of bin Laden.” Wall Street Journal
The quote above was from an op-ed written by the former Attorney General of the United State, Michael Mukasey. It seems that Gen. Mukasey is now a big proponent of torture techniques and he even makes the unfounded claim that the name of the courier that eventually led the United States to Osama Bin Laden was obtained through the “harsh interrogation techniques”. It is amazing to me that Mukasey who was a Federal judge before being named Attorney General, would be ignorant of the illegality of waterboarding. Doesn’t Mukasey remember that the United States prosecuted Japanese soldiers after WWII for waterboarding American personnel and we also prosecuted American servicemen for waterboarding prisoners during the Vietnam War?
Gen. Mukasey even complains that President Obama did the country a disservice by eliminating the torture techniques from the government’s arsenal. He further attacks the Obama administration for investigating the CIA operatives who were involved in the torture of detainees. Gen. Mukasey just can’t get enough torture. An article in Firedoglake.com claims that Mukasey’s feigned concern for the CIA agents being investigated is a farce because the Wikileaks documents proved that the United States was using the alleged investigation into the CIA agent’s as a mechanism for convincing the Spanish authorities that their planned investigation into the torture carried out by American agents was unnecessary.
“In other words, what this cable shows is the genesis of the plan–on the day after the torture memos were released–to forestall international investigations of US torture by claiming that the US is itself conducting an investigation. It’s a claim that continues to this day. It’s not a surprise that the Obama Administration has been pointing to its own investigations–credible or not–to persuade the international community not to hold our torturers accountable. But it is useful to see how the diplomats and the lawyers first hatched that plan.” Firedoglake.com
One of the authors of the infamous Torture Memos, John Yoo, also came out in favor of the torture techniques and he also tries to assert that torture played a role in obtaining the information needed to find and kill Osama Bin Laden. “Also, buried in the stories may be yet another sign of the vindication of the Bush administration’s war on terror policies. Anonymous government sources say that the al Qaeda courier who led our intelligence people to bin Laden was a protege of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks who was captured in 2002, subjected to enhanced interrogation methods, and yielded a trove of intelligence on al Qaeda. Those same sources admit that interrogation of al Qaeda leaders, presumably by the CIA, yielded the identity of the courier. That identity was then combined into a mosaic of other information from other detainee interrogations, electronic intercepts, and sources in other countries, to eventually identify bin Laden’s hideout.” American Enterprise Institute
It seems painfully obvious to this reader that Prof. Yoo and Gen. Mukasey are trying to rewrite history, as well as rewrite our laws on interrogation. There is no evidence torture had anything to do with the finding of and killing of Osama Bin Laden. Even Senator Lindsey Graham admits to that as does Senator Barbara Feinstein. Think Progress “Not all Republicans are claiming that bin Laden’s killing vindicates torture. At a Capitol press conference Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stood apart from his colleagues in the GOP. “This idea we caught bin Laden because of waterboarding I think is a misstatement,” he said. “This whole concept of how we caught bin Laden is a lot of work over time by different people and putting the puzzle together. I do not believe this is a time to celebrate waterboarding, I believe this is a time to celebrate hard work.” Talking Points Memo
The Bush Administration officials seem to be attempting to rewrite history by claiming their illegal torture techniques aided in the search for Bin Laden. In former Attorney Gen. Mukasey and Prof. Yoo’s cases, they are both asserting that torture is effective and that is legal. That’s right. According to the Torture Twins, Mukasey and Yoo, they claim that waterboarding is legal. Although I agree that President Obama has done the country a disservice by not prosecuting the officials who authorized and carried out the torture during the Bush administration, by no means does that inaction make waterboarding legal. I guess if the Bush apologists keep saying it enough, they hope that Americans will believe them. Mukasey and Yoo both sold out their souls for their jobs and their President. I hope they can sleep at night.
Turley ends his piece with: “Mukasey and Yoo both sold out their souls for their jobs and their President. I hope they can sleep at night.”
Like babies, Jon. Like Baayyyyybeeees. Do you think Goering or Goebbels ever lost a minute’s sleep? These guys are the face of American Fascism in its ascendancy. See you on the other side of the Evil Empire, folks. Wake me when it’s over.
anon nurse,
Thanks! We had our to grandsons over today so we were busy, but very happy!
rafflaw,
…”very happy is very good…” 🙂 (And they grow up so quickly…)
Karla,
Good catch!
Joe Darby is a name to remember. Having received the Profile in Courage Award back in 2005, he and his wife reportedly “now reside in protective military custody at an undisclosed location.”
From Wikipedia: (Referring to Darby and his wife) “They have been shunned by friends and neighbors, their property has been vandalized, and they now reside in protective military custody at an undisclosed location. Bernadette said, “We did not receive the response I thought we would. People were, they were mean, saying he was a walking dead man, he was walking around with a bull’s-eye on his head. It was scary.”[5]
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Events-and-Awards/Profile-in-Courage-Award/Award-Recipients/Joseph-Darby-2005.aspx?t=3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Darby
Darby initially wanted to remain anonymous, and had been assured of anonymity[2] — he and those implicated all served in the 372nd Military Police Company, but became known after Donald Rumsfeld publicly named him during a Senate hearing.[3]
We need to stay focused on this issue…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse
(Dan) Rather interviewed Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick, a participant in the abuse, whose civilian job was as a corrections officer at a Virginia prison. Frederick stated, “We had no support, no training whatsoever. And I kept asking my chain of command for certain things … like rules and regulations”, says Frederick. “And it just wasn’t happening.” Frederick’s video diary, sent home from Iraq, provided some of the images used in the story.
Sgt. Ivan Frederick sitting on an Iraqi detainee between two stretchers In the diary are listed detailed, dated entries that chronicle abuse and names, for example,
They stressed him out so bad that the man died. The next day the medics came in and put his body on a stretcher, placed a fake I.V. in his arm [to suggest he died under medical care] and took him away. This OGA (other governmental agency) [prisoner] was never processed and therefore never had a number. —Ivan Frederick
Great article, with one quibble.
The senator mentioned in the 2nd-to-last paragraph is not Barbara Feinstein — she’s Diane Feinstein. Barbara Boxer is the other senator from California.
anon nurse,
Thanks! We had our to grandsons over today so we were busy, but very happy!
rafflaw,
re: Unfortunately, I wrote my earlier response so quickly that the word Be came out at GE! Sorry about that.
You’re a busy guy… What are a few typos… It’s the substance that counts. 🙂
Elaine,.
I loved the Zimmerman song!! that guy is good!
Swarthmore Mom,
Cheney wants to bring back torture because he wants it to be really legal to take the heat off him and Bush, et al. Of course, unless Holder grows a set, the rule of law concerning torture will never return.
Unfortunately, I wrote my earlier response so quickly that the word Be came out at GE! Sorry about that.
Stamford,
thanks and by the way, the answer to your question is yes!
Juan,
President Bush not only knew the truth, he authorized and approved the torture. He admitted to that on TV and in his book.
swarthmom
there are still some unanswered questions as to who outed valerie plame.
maybe waterboarding would help.
he can’t claim executive privilage, he was in the legislative branch.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54531.html Cheney said in an interview that he is concerned that the torture techniques that the Bush administration used have been taken off the table. Cheney wants to bring back water boarding.
I feel sorry for Bush, because so many of his advisors, like all of the above, did not serve him well, did not serve the Presidency well, did not serve the Country well. They forever tarnished our Nation’s principles and values. But, because they were not prosecuted, there will never be any redemption for them–-justice, one way or another. In the end, Bush knew “the truth,” too, as signaled when he chose not to fully pardon Scooter Libby. In doing so, he sent “a message” to all who “were listening,” and scored a bit of redemption as a byproduct…
I feel sorry for Bush, because so many of his advisors, like all of the above, did not serve him well, did not serve the Presidency well, did not serve the Country well. They forever tarnished our Nation’s principles and values. But, because they were not prosecuted, there will never be any redemption for them–justice, one way or another. In the end, Bush knew “the truth,” too, as signaled when he choose not to fully pardon Scotty Libby. In doing so, he sent “a message” to all who “were listening,” a scored a bit of redemption as a byproduct…
rafflaw,
Excellent post – many thanks!
“Consider how the intelligence that led to bin Laden came to hand. It began with a disclosure from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), who broke like a dam under the pressure of harsh interrogation techniques that included waterboarding. He loosed a torrent of information—including eventually the nickname of a trusted courier of bin Laden.”
Common sense would dictate that if they knew eight years ago what we know now, why did the McFlightsuit Admuddlestration sit on the “actionable intelligence?” Why didn’t they act upon it at that time?
Could it be because the torture apologists in the McFlightsuit Admuddlestration is full of sh*t?
rafflaw,
Here’s a video of Roy Zimmerman singing his song Chickenhawk:
John Yoo should GE behind bars and disbarred. -rafflaw
Oh, yeah.. Yoo and many others…
Yoo, Bush, Cheney, the “torture psychologists” (and the list goes on) are responsible for promoting torture, including the “bullying on steroids” which is taking place in our communities. (COINTELPRO is but one form.) We’re already in serious trouble… and had better “look homeward” pretty damn quickly. Manning is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to abuse, harassment and, yes, even torture, of American citizens.
People driving 40 on a 65 MPH road….That is Torture….can I have them waterboarded….Just asking….
Elaine,
You(not Yoo) are correct. Unfortunately, the truth came out too.