It seems somewhat hyperbole to say it, but some cloth and water should derail the nomination of Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General.
Cloth and water are the two tools needed to perform waterboarding - the technique where an interrogee is tied down, and water is poured over cloth or cellophane over his face, to recreate the feeling of drowning. Some call it an "enhanced interrogation technique." What it is, though, is torture. Not only is it not proven to get any usable intelligence, but, more importantly, it puts our troops in danger.
Though the description of it sounds innocuous enough, there is no doubt that the technique meets all the definitions of torture under the Geneva Conventions, which provide the guideline under which our troops must operate. It is, without question, not as nice as it sounds.
In his confirmation hearing, and in a subsequent letter to the Judiciary Committee, Mukasey refused to say whether he considered the technique torture, and Constitutional.
As a veteran of Iraq who represents other Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, I can't speak to Constitutional issues. However, I can and must speak to the notion of having yet another Attorney General who advises the President that torture is not torture.
Among the greatest travesties of the tenure of Alberto Gonzalez at the White House and Justice Department was his steadfast belief that many different forms of torture were not forms of torture. His rationale went way beyond domestic Constitutional issues, and extended to the field in Iraq, where his rationale was the basis by some for the green-lighting of the use of torture against detainees.
This has terrible ramifications for our troops in harm's way.
First, the dismissal of the Geneva Conventions hurts our ability to win hearts and minds. Yes, this is proving terribly difficult, anyway, as the occupation of Iraq drags on. But there are still many Iraqis who are open to being allies of the U.S. But, when they hear that we use torture techniques, we lose credibility with them as a force that is trying to make things better. In fact, all it does is conjure up thoughts and feelings associated with Saddam Hussein, for them. That's a tragedy, because America, at its core, and our troops, represent everything the polar opposite that Saddam represented. But, it's hard to show that when Iraqis know that we employ the use of torture. The use of torture only fosters feelings of ill-will against Americans, feeds the insurgency, and leads to our troops being more heavily targeted.
Secondly, for thousands of years, the mentality of the region has been an eye for an eye. If we torture, it gives our enemies all the reason they feel they need to torture any of our troops who are captured.
This is far from a partisan issue. Democrats were joined by Senators McCain, Graham, and Warner, among others, in repudiating the use of torture. McCain and Graham, again, are voicing their concern over Mukasey's refusal to call waterboarding what it is.
America has to operate on a higher moral plane than our enemies. It, quite literally, is directly related to the safety and lives of our troops. If Mukasey will not make it abundantly clear that waterboarding and other techniques like it are torture, for our troops' sake, he must not be confirmed as Attorney General.
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Please, please, please do this because he said that he is for torture when American lives are in danger and he also said that he believes that most, if not ALL of the Dems in the Senate and the House are for it too.
This is all just political posturing by the Dems since just as little as 3 years ago, CHUCKY was ALL for WATERBOARDING and yes, he said it, TORTURE.
But Mukasey can't offer an opinion on this??
Bush is totally clueless on this as well apparently.
We're not torturing Germans, or the English. We're not torturing the Irish, although the English did. We're torturing Muslims. And we're engaged in a truly bizarre national "debate" about whether we should continue to torture Muslims.
Can you imagine a national debate about whether we should, for example, rape women? That's a form of torture, remember. Would any civilized country have that debate? Nazi Germany would. But the United States, land of the free, home of the brave?
If it's okay to waterboard male Muslims, then why isn't it okay to rape female Muslims, as a form of torture? Or how about rape the male Muslims? Should we do that? Is it Constitutional? Can the President do it on his own? Or does he need Congress to approve it? Call Lieberman, Kyl and Clinton, maybe they'll vote for it.
Should we torture Muslims? The first time I read an article supporting torture was after 9/11, when an article by a national figure posited the "what if it's the only way to stop nuclear war" theory of why it's okay to torture Muslims. Then I believe it was a neocon fascist legal scholar who came up with the theory that it's entirely consistent with U.S. law for us to torture Muslims.
Didn't the Catholic church decide this a long time ago? That it was okay to torture Muslims?
Should we have a constitutional amendment saying that it's okay to torture Muslims? If it was legal, if the Supreme Court said it "passes muster" to torture Muslims, does that mean it's okay? Is there any person in national leadership in the U.S. anymore who has any decency whatsoever?
Good discussions on this subject at Swimming Freestyle.
It seems that the XtianRiech are really just fascists, the Christian Mafia. And by the way, the Supremes are fascist, too. At least the ones who stole Gore's presidency, and our rightful president in Kerry. They stopped the vote count, for God's sake people, and people did not riot in the streets.
Waterboarding puts our troops in further danger of all kinds of barbarianism like beheadings, etc. We need not become them to defeat them.
Impeach, indict and convict Bush and Cheney for war crimes.
It really is as simple as "don't do the crime if you can't do the time". Hell, prosecuting the lot would go a LONG ways to restoring the standing and honor of the USA again in world opinion. Letting them skate away free and clear simply puts us in the same category as any and all other criminal and monstrous regimes around the world that do not fall under the Rule of Law.
ESPECIALLY if it protects America and innocents GLOBALLY from terrorism.
If pouring water on someone's face will keep me from jumping over dead secretaries after running out of my office as I did on 9.11, hand me the spout.
I remain, Semper Fidelis,
CPL FINELLI, USMC, inactive (sole WTC 9.11 Survivor to enlist in the Marines and fight in Iraq).