Torture and the United States

Concerned that the US tortures in your name? Please visit Earth Standing Still to gain control over your government again.

"There's an enemy that lurks and plots and plans and wants to hurt America again. So you bet we will aggressively pursue them but we will do so under the law. We do not torture." – George W. Bush (Bush defends detainees policy)
On the day that I wrote this, I saw a headline on Yahoo that said, "CIA agents reveal interrogation tactics". A few minutes later and that headline was gone. Not just off the front page; it was not on any of the inner pages where older headlines go as they rotate out. After about 30 minutes, I found it elsewhere and subsequently traced it to an ABC report: "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described".

I never thought that the subject of the US torturing people would ever come up. Is this what this country has come to? In the name of what? My tax money is going to fund the torture of other people and so is yours. Are some of them horrible, murderous people? Probably. But I don't want to be like them.

Let's ask this: Would you personally want to torture somebody? Regardless of the circumstances, would you want to do it? (Actually, I believe there is a psychology experiment that says any of us probably would actually do it, so let's focus on what we want to do.) If you're like me, you'll probably agree that almost nobody would want to torture somebody else. It's wrong and we know it's wrong. Yet the evidence is mounting that the US is engaging in torture around the world.

And it is believed that torture influenced US policy – It had a direct effect on the invasion of Iraq. From the same article mentioned above:

"In at least one instance, ABC News was told that the techniques led to questionable information aimed at pleasing the interrogators and that this information had a significant impact on U.S. actions in Iraq.

According to CIA sources, Ibn al Shaykh al Libbi, after two weeks of enhanced interrogation, made statements that were designed to tell the interrogators what they wanted to hear.

His statements became part of the basis for the Bush administration claims that Iraq trained al Qaeda members to use biochemical weapons. Sources tell ABC that it was later established that al Libbi had no knowledge of such training or weapons and fabricated the statements because he was terrified of further harsh treatment."

Bad actions produce bad results; you can't get away from it. This government clearly supports torture, regardless of what Bush says. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein was ultimately responsible for torture. In the US we are ultimately responsible for our government and so are ultimately responsible for the torture committed in our name.

References:
CIA 'running secret terror jails'
Spain Looks Into C.I.A.'s Handling of Detainees
C.I.A. Expands Its Inquiry Into Interrogation Tactics
I-N-S-I-D-E the CIA's Secret Prison-Rendition-Torture Planes