Justifying tacit support for torture

October 7, 2005

I mentioned yesterday that the Senate passed a measure, 90 to 9, setting new limits on “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” on detainees (read: prohibiting torture) in Iraq and elsewhere. The nine pro-torture votes came from Sens. Allard (R-CO), Bond (R-MO), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Cornyn (R-TX), Inhofe (R-OK), Roberts (R-KS), Sessions (R-AL), and Stevens (R-AK).

Keep the context in mind here. Those senators knew the measure was going to pass overwhelmingly, with bi-partisan support, and with the backing of the entire Senate Republican leadership. To vote against it anyway was to take a firm and principled stand — in this case, against steps to forbid torture.

To its credit, the Washington Post contacted each of the nine, asking for an explanation. The answers ranged from the unpersuasive to the bizarre. These are my two favorites:

Sen. Pat Roberts (Kan.) — “Am I against torture? Of course I am. I know as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee that the information we get from interrogating terrorists is some of the most valuable information we get. It saves lives, period. We have learned that one of the most effective tools we have in getting this information is the terrorists’ fear of the unknown. Passing a law that effectively telegraphs to the entire terrorist world what they can expect if they are caught is not only counterproductive, but could be downright dangerous.”

Sen. James M. Inhofe (Okla.) — “From my first statement in the Senate Armed Services Committee in May of last year, I have made it clear that we are spending far too much of our time and effort on the prisoner abuse issue and not enough time on the quality of our interrogations. . . . The military justice system was well into its investigations before the public was even aware of the issue. It is my feeling that the more we air this issue publicly, the more we are emboldening the terrorists. The more we talk about our methods of interrogation we must remember that the enemy is listening.”

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but the fact that these two experienced, committee-leading hacks could make such spurious arguments is stunning. To hear Inhofe tell it, if we talk about our torture of detainees (many of whom have done nothing wrong) and take steps to prevent it from happening again, we’re helping terrorists. It’s better, under this twisted worldview, to tolerate torture and pretend it doesn’t exist.

To paraphrase U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, terrorists “do not need pretexts for their barbarism” and suppressing the truth would amount to submitting to blackmail. It’s tragic that nine Republican senators don’t understand that.

Because when stomp on the Koran, they all cringe in fear at our might. What a load of bull. Nothing infuriates them more than finding out that we’re abusing their religion in those jail cells. Inhofe can eat it.

The solution isn’t secrecy, because that’s worked so well already. The solution is to stop doing it!

  • Boy Oklahoma sure does elect some nut jobs. Coburn and Inhofe are the goofiest pair from one state in the Senate. They are worse than Texas, where Kay Bailey Hutchison is at least sane, or the great state of Mississippialabama.

  • America is the greatest country in the world and anyone who dares to attacks President Bush and the policies of this country are nothing but traitors and are no better that the terrorists who attack us on 9/11. The traitors should be imprisoned just like their fellow travelers, the terrorist, and afforded the same treatment.

    America is last standing super-power! It is our manifest destiny to be the governing force that brings democracy to the world. If we have to torture people to make sure that our country accomplishes its mission and in turn make sure we have the resources we need to maintain our standing as the last and only super-power in the world, so be it. The stronger we are, the better for those depending on us and our efforts to assure democracy takes hold in countries like Iraq. We know by their actions that the terrorists are evil and need to be eradicated by any means necessary. When it comes to the War On Terror, a strong national defense in not enough. We must go on the offense and torture is one of the most effective ways of making sure that the terrorists know that their days are numbered.

    Anyone who questions the actions of the U.S. and its War On Terror, including the use of torture is a traitor and should be treated just like the terrorist.

    I tired of these traitors undermining the War On Terror and in turn endangering the lives of our troops. We need to eradicate these traitors from our political landscape. It time to require everyone living in this country to take a loyalty oath, those that don’t should then be consider traitors and dealt with accordingly. We need to weed out the traitors among us and eliminate them if we are going to win the War On Terror.

    In fact we should consider any violent crime committed in the United States as an act of terror, and employ torture on those “criminal” terrorist operating domestically. The police in this country need to be federalized as our great President Bush has suggested. That way we can expand our efforts in the War On Terror to include any act of violence that occurs within the country. If we start to use torture not only against the terrorist that attack us for outside the country, but the “criminal” terrorist who create daily terror the people of this country from within, we should be able to assure our future as a Nation. We need eliminate those elements inside and outside our country that want to bring this great Nation down.

    If we can effectively employ torture both domestically and international, then we may have no more terror to fear in the not to distant future.

    • Comments are closed.