Cheney May Have No Regrets About Torture -- But We Should

This week, former Vice President Dick Cheney has come to New York to hobnob with members of the financial elite at the Rodman and Renshaw Annual Global Investors Conference and chat with the hosts of "The View." As he promotes his new memoir, "In My Time," and relishes the role of elder statesman, secure in his belief that he will not be held accountable for the actions he authorized, we must not give in to the temptation to see him as a harmless legacy of the past.

The torture program Cheney and Bush authorized in the aftermath of the attacks of 9/11 10 years ago was illegal according to both American and international law. The CIA's use of torture in interrogations was considerably less effective than the rapport-building techniques of the FBI, and it produced evidence that could not be used in court. And while Cheney and others defend the use of torture as a means for keeping us safe, the horrific images of torture and news of waterboarding that spread around the world helped to mobilize our enemies against us. The dark side is a dangerous place to be.

But as we reach the 10th anniversary of the event that incited the government to initiate the use of torture, we must get beyond arguments about its efficacy and legality. Laws can be -- and have been -- re-written and reinterpreted. What we have lost since 9/11 is the underlying value that there are limits on what we can do, even in the name of safety. A recent Pew poll demonstrates yet again that American support for the use of torture continues to rise, while those who feel that torture is "never justified" is an ever-shrinking group, especially among the young. We are living on the dark side.

Safety is not an end unto itself. After all, isn't remaining safe simply the first rung on a ladder of protecting all that we hold dear as a nation? Charles and Gregory Fried, in their book "Because It Is Wrong: Torture, Privacy, and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror," argue against the temptation, even in the most difficult times, to give ourselves over to the dark side. Mere survival is not enough, they state, because we have to question what we will survive as once we allow ourselves to permit the use of waterboarding and other forms of torture. We cannot survive as monsters, but torture is the work of monsters, unjustifiable under any and all conditions. I ascribe to the philosophy of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which reminds us again and again that torture breaks us as human beings, destroys our divine spark and corrupts our souls. We must continue to insist that the use of torture is never justified and contradicts out most cherished moral values as Americans.

The legacy of 9/11 must not be the dark side. Dick Cheney may have "no regrets," but for Americans of conscience, we must have more than regrets. We have a moral obligation to fully investigate our government's past use of torture, not to brush it under the rug or excuse it in the name of national security. Join me in calling for a Commission of Inquiry that fully investigates all aspects of the use of torture by the United States and demanding accountability for architects of torture like Vice President Cheney. Let us truly close out this tragic chapter in American history before we reach the next round of anniversaries.

 

Comments

[skeptic406]

12:47 PM on 09/16/2011

How long must we wait for the Hague to indict our former government for their war crimes?

[celtic]

12:33 AM on 09/16/2011

"The CIA's use of torture in interrogations was considerably less effective than the rapport-building techniques of the FBI..."

So if I understand right, in this urgent need to get intel in the war on terrorism, Cheney wanted to use torture, even though it is "considerably less effective" than non-torture? Wow, Dick Cheney sounds like a real bad man.

[phal4875]

10:51 PM on 09/16/2011

It is doubtful that Cheney saw it as less effective than other methods. Besides, if Cheney had no proof either way about the effectiveness of torture, he could still feel like a real man for having authorized it.

[Chroesus]

10:04 PM on 09/15/2011

Why, I ask the author, the surprise? We have a citizenry that is awash in corporate media, right -wing fantasy and a nearly total lack of knowledge concerning history and the crimes that our nation has committed in our unjustified middle-eastern wars. In our modern society dis-information is treated with equal respect as is history. Right wing talking points are treated as fact, even though, evidence to the contrary is easily seen. We have created a citizenry that accepts the pure fantasy of conservatism as though it were reality. The end result is a populace that has lost contact with truth and confers equal validity to political wishful thinking as to reality. The corporate media and conservative talking heads are venerated above scholars who spend a lifetime of devotion and study to unlock the truths of science and history. I am sad to say it, but if we continue on this course and let our corporate masters lead us, we may see the end of our great civilization and the prelude to the end of humanity.

[Catothemuchyounger]

05:14 PM on 09/15/2011

"We cannot survive as monsters, but torture is the work of monsters, unjustifiable under any and all conditions."

Nonsense. There are no monsters. Whatever torture was performed, it was done by people, often ordinary people doing their duty as they saw it.

[flacon]

03:48 PM on 09/15/2011

"waterboarding and other forms of torture" is an expansive statement. What other forms of torture? Is there a difference of opinion on what constitutes torture? Do we have all the facts necessary to make a decision as to what was done, to who, why it was done, and WAS it torture?

[Paleo Man]

03:38 PM on 09/15/2011

Do you remember the Chowchilla kidnapping of a busload of 26 children, who were then imprisoned in a hidden underground location with only battery powered ventilation? Only the perps knew where they were, and if the critical information was not gained soon enough, the kids would all suffocate or simply die slowly of dehydration and hunger.

Some terrorist situations are akin to this also. If I was a parent of one of the imprisoned children, or even if not, I'd have bent any "rules" neccessary to get one of the perps to timely reveal the critical information, including any degree of discomfort to him that it took. I would not limit myself to negotiation or gaining rapport over time. If that makes me a monster as you say, so be it. Because as soon as you make immutable rules, the terrorists and perps learn what they are, and they take refuge in them and use them against you. If they abide by no rules, as to them I see no reason to commit to rules in their favor. The difference between them and me, author of this article, is that you, an innocent person, are safe around me, you are not safe around them, and they would not be safe around me. I'm glad there are good people in the world like you, and I'm glad there are good people who are not like you.

[Chroesus]

10:13 PM on 09/15/2011

Since people who are tortured will tell you anything you want to hear, Do you really think torture will get you the information you need? Or have you just given in to wishful thinking that this is how to get the information you need even though expert interrogators tell you that their proven and effective methods do not involve torture? Think, are you just giving in to an impulse to punish prisoners and giving up the chance to gain factual information to fulfill that desire?

[skeptic406]

12:45 PM on 09/16/2011

Chroesus is exactly right. All empirical and experiential data show that torture is not reliable or effective. There are quicker and more reliable ways to get the same vital information. This is just the way it is in real life rather than TV. All professional Intelligence Operatives know this. Those who use torture do it because they want to and not because it works better or faster.

[darquelourd]

03:08 PM on 09/15/2011

If only Cheney could undergo torture and imprisonment. He might develop some perspective or "soul".

[DrMcD]

02:12 PM on 09/15/2011

Very nicely said. Thank you.