Neocon Torture Defense is Melting

The poor neocons - their defenfses for torture are melting away right in front of our eyes.

1. "America Doesn't Torture." That's what George Bush and his administration still insist (Liz Cheney, Dana Perino). Of course we all saw the Abu Ghraib photos. We know roughly 100 prisoners died, and roughly 30 deemed manslaughter by the U.S. Three dozen more have "disappeared". The International Committee of the Red Cross reported the horrifying ordeals of 14 who survived. The Senate Armed Services Committee documented the deliberate bureaucratic spread of "torture" based on SERE from Gitmo to Bagram to Abu Ghraib. Judge Susan Crawford concluded even the combination of "milder" techniques constituted "torture." And we just learned Abu Zubaydah (AZ) and Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) were waterboarded 266 times. Scratch that one.

2. "Torture by Americans is Sacred." Pat Buchanan says "there is a higher moral law... That's what Dr. King was all about." Rep. Peter King says Jay Bybee deserves a medal. In other words, whatever brutality America commits out of fear or hatred is by definition sacred. The Nazis believed that too. Go tell it to a judge. Scratch that one.

3. "Waterboarding Is Not Torture." (Karl Rove, Condi Rice, Michael Mukasey, Newt Gingrich, Pete Hoekstra, National Review, Federalist Society, David Rivkin, Andy McCarthy, John Eastman, Lamar Smith, Ann Coulter - also see #1) Sure - tell that to the Japanese soldiers we prosecuted for waterboarding after World War II; some were hanged. Or the U.S. soldiers we court-martialed in the Phillippines. Or the Texas sheriff sentenced to 10 years in prison under Reagan. Heck, tell that to the Spanish Inquisition and Pol Pot. Ask John McCain. If it isn't torture, why did the CIA destroy all of the waterboarding tapes? Scratch that one.

4. "Torture Prevented Another 9/11 and Saved American Lives." (Liz Cheney, Mark Thiessen) Bush said that as well in 2006, claiming the torture of KSM in March 2003 prevented a 9/11-style attack on the Library Tower in Los Angeles. But that attack was stopped in February 2002, more than a year before KSM was captured. Thiessen says it prevented attacks on the US Embassy in Karache, the Marine barracks in Djibouti, and London's Heathrow Airport. Got proof? Scratch that one.

There are serving U.S. flag-rank officers who maintain that the first and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq – as judged by their effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into combat – are, respectively the symbols of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

- Alberto Mora, Former Navy general counsel

I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The large majority of suicide bombings in Iraq are still carried out by these foreigners. They are also involved in most of the attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me -- unless you don't count American soldiers as Americans.

- "Matthew Alexander", former U.S. military interrogator in Iraq

 

5. "Torture Gave Us Other Valuable Intelligence." (Michael Hayden, Michael Mukasey) That's Dick Cheney's current defense and his argument for declassifying two memos that allegedly prove his case. But as all Cheney-watchers know, this is simply an exercise in "cherry picking" evidence that he likes while suppressing evidence he doesn't - especially the CIA Inspector General's report concluding torture didn't work. The only valuable intelligence from AZ and KSM was obtained by FBI interrogators without torture, while subsequent CIA torture mainly produced lies. Ask Robert Mueller, Tyler Drumheller, Bob Baer, or "Matthew Alexander". Even Steven Bradbury had to admit it. Besides, if torture "works," why don't we use it for the most serious domestic crimes? Scratch that one.

6. "Torture is Legal if We're Scared." (Joe Scarborough, Charles Krauthammer) Wrong! The Convention Against Torture allows no exceptions. Besides, we didn't start torturing for 11 months after 9/11 - just when we needed to manufacture reasons to invade Iraq. And if it was legal to torture foreigners, it would be legal to torture Americans. In any event, torture doesn't produce reliable information - not after 183 sessions, and certainly not after 1.

7. "The Torture Lawyers Interpreted the Law in Good Faith." (George Will, Mara Liasson, David Broder) That assumes they didn't know waterboarding was torture (see #2). It assumes they didn't know torture doesn't work, but Pentagon experts at JPRA told them it was torture and it didn't work. It assumes there were no lawyers who objected, but every JAG did. State Department lawyer Philip Zelikow objected in a memo, but they destroyed every copy. The FBI even tried to prosecute CIA torturers but Attorney General John Ashcroft blocked them. Scratch that one.

In his televised address 2 days before invading Iraq, Bush warned Iraqis:

War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, “I was just following orders.”

8. "A Torture Investigation Would Paralyze the CIA." (Porter Goss, Mark Thiessen, Michael Scheurer) Those who really care about the CIA (The unanimous Senate Armed Services Committee, DNI Dennis Blair, David Boren, Bob Baer, Mel Goodman) insist torture caused immense damage to the CIA. Before Bush-Cheney, the CIA was never in the interrogation business - that was the job of skilled interrogators at the FBI and the Defense Department, who will now be back in charge. The CIA's primary job is to recruit willing spies (primarily through bribes), not unwilling prisoners (through torture), because the CIA believes information given willingly is infinitely more reliable. So the CIA is delighted to be out of the torture business. Also very few CIA agents were involved in torture; most agents are true patriots. The torture scandal scared the best recruits away; cleaning house will bring them back.  Scratch that one.

9. "A Torture Investigation Will Help The Terrorists." (Porter Goss, Bill Kristol) The idea that U.S. torture was secret became moot after the Abu Ghraib photos were published in April 2004. Bush promised a "full investigation" to Al Arabiya TV. When torturers are taking photos and videos, such disclosures are inevitable - just ask Bob Gates. And torture victims don't need the U.S. media to describe their horrific treatment to the Arabic media, they can tell the stories all around the world. The world knows what happened; the only question now is whether the U.S. will hold the Torturers accountable and prove "America Doesn't Torture." Scratch that one.

10. "New Presidents never investigate the crimes of their predecessor." Gerald Ford prosecuted Nixon's Watergate cronies, including John Mitchell. The last new president to investigate his predecessor was ... George Bush! He investigated White House staff for allegedly stealing W typewriter keys, and President Clinton for his completely legal pardon of Marc Rich. Bushlover Sean Hannity wanted to prosecute Clinton and Janet Reno.  Scratch that one.

11. "Only banana republics prosecute previous administrations." (Karl Rove, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Mark Steyn, Chris Wallace, Bob Schieffer) No, only banana republics allow political elites to commit crimes with impunity. Democracies insist that no one - including political elites - are above the law. Scratch that one.

12. "Key Democrats approved torture." (Porter Goss) Speaker Pelosi was one of only four Democrats who received secret CIA briefings. She adamantly insists they were never told prisoners were being tortured. Marcy Wheeler has the details. Scratch that one.

13. "Congressional Democrats funded torture in 2007-08." First, they didn't know much about Bush's waterboarding program until the Torture Memos were finally released in April 2009, because the Bush Administration refused to answer Congressional subpoenas. But if they had tried to cut funds without knowing the facts, Bush would have vetoed the bill, nullified it with a signing statement, or ignored it. Scratch that one.

14. "A criminal investigation of torture would tear America apart." Then why do solid majorities of Americans support investigations not only for torture, but also wiretaps and politicization of the Justice Department? Let the rightwing chorus scream all it wants, even Teabag for Torture - the American people couldn't care less. Scratch that one.

15. "A criminal investigation would be nothing but blind vengeance." (Karl Rove, David Broder, Matthew Dowd) No, it's the only form of accountability under the law. Scratch that one.

16. "A criminal or Congressional investigation would be nothing but a farcical show trial." (Brit Hume) As opposed to the FOX-led impeachment of Bill Clinton? Scratch that one.

17. "Congressional investigations would suck all the air out Congress and block action President Obama's legislative agenda." The only inexhaustible resource in Congress is hot air. Scratch that one.

18. "If Democrats investigate, Republicans will shut down Congress." Republicans shut down Congress in 1998 to investigate Monicagate. They shut down the entire government in 1994 because Newt Gingrich had to sit at the back of Air Force One. The American people understand Republican temper tantrums and couldn't care less. Scratch that one.

19. "Yes we tortured but we're really really sorry so don't prosecute us." This is the last refuge of scoundrels - a pre-emptive apology. Jay Bybee was the first to try this (through anonymous friends) and he won't be the last. If Bybee really has regrets, he should resign and voluntarily testify to Congress and the Attorney General for prosecution of Dick Cheney and George Bush - and tell Rep. Peter King to stick his "medal" where the sun don't shine. Scratch that one.

20. "Yes we tortured but the U.S. and Britain committed war crimes in World War II." This is a bizarre and unique obsession of Bill O'Reilly, but he's wrong. Scratch that one.

21. "Yes we tortured but we're Real Men and you're just pussies." (Bill Kristol, Ann Coulter) In that case, let's waterboard Cheney to find out why he tortured - and whether the draft-dodger is a Real Man. (Bradley Whitford) Scratch that one.