July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Why are we having this debate? (11/10/05)
Editorial
By By JACK RONALD-
Have we tumbled through the looking glass into another world?
The president and vice president of the United States, while insisting that the U.S. government is not engaged in torture, want to make sure that it can do just that.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that the Central Intelligence Agency is operating secret prisons in foreign countries where torture is being used.
And the official reaction of much of Washington is to not to express outrage that the secret prisons exist but to rail against The Post for letting the secret out of the bag.
Is this what American leadership has come to in the 21st century? Torture — or the threat of torture — as official policy? Secret prisons on foreign soil paid for by U.S. taxpayers?
Have Americans become so timorous in the “war on terror” that we’re willing to accept any tactic, no matter how base and no matter how un-American?
That’s what the president and vice president appear to assume.
Fortunately, for the country and the world, the White House isn’t the only source of leadership in Washington these days.
Sen. John McCain and Sen. Chuck Hagel — both Republicans with long and distinguished military careers — have bravely spoken out against the debased and misguided policy being pushed by the administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
They’ve pointed out that “intelligence” gained via torture is nearly always useless, and they’ve made it clear that such policies ultimately endanger Americans.
With nearly the entire U.S. Senate at their side, McCain and Hagel have pushed for a ban on torture, not only by American troops, who are already prohibited from such acts by the military code of conduct, but by the CIA and those shadowy figures who are paid to act on behalf of our government.
It’s a sad commentary that the ban on torture even needs to be debated, and we suspect historians will look back on this moment as one of the darkest and most shameful in the country’s history.
But we’re thankful to the Senate — especially Sens. McCain and Hagel — that the debate has been engaged.
The question now is whether their counterparts in the House of Representatives have sufficient courage and moral clarity to follow suit. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
The president and vice president of the United States, while insisting that the U.S. government is not engaged in torture, want to make sure that it can do just that.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that the Central Intelligence Agency is operating secret prisons in foreign countries where torture is being used.
And the official reaction of much of Washington is to not to express outrage that the secret prisons exist but to rail against The Post for letting the secret out of the bag.
Is this what American leadership has come to in the 21st century? Torture — or the threat of torture — as official policy? Secret prisons on foreign soil paid for by U.S. taxpayers?
Have Americans become so timorous in the “war on terror” that we’re willing to accept any tactic, no matter how base and no matter how un-American?
That’s what the president and vice president appear to assume.
Fortunately, for the country and the world, the White House isn’t the only source of leadership in Washington these days.
Sen. John McCain and Sen. Chuck Hagel — both Republicans with long and distinguished military careers — have bravely spoken out against the debased and misguided policy being pushed by the administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
They’ve pointed out that “intelligence” gained via torture is nearly always useless, and they’ve made it clear that such policies ultimately endanger Americans.
With nearly the entire U.S. Senate at their side, McCain and Hagel have pushed for a ban on torture, not only by American troops, who are already prohibited from such acts by the military code of conduct, but by the CIA and those shadowy figures who are paid to act on behalf of our government.
It’s a sad commentary that the ban on torture even needs to be debated, and we suspect historians will look back on this moment as one of the darkest and most shameful in the country’s history.
But we’re thankful to the Senate — especially Sens. McCain and Hagel — that the debate has been engaged.
The question now is whether their counterparts in the House of Representatives have sufficient courage and moral clarity to follow suit. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
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