Waterboarding is Torture. The Power of a Simple Declarative Sentence
Attorney General nominee Eric Holder was questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Holder if he agreed that waterboarding was torture and illegal. The Attorney General-designate replied:
If you look at the history of the use of that technique, used by the Khmer Rouge, used in the Inquisition, used by the Japanese and prosecuted by us as war crimes. We prosecuted our own soldiers for using it in Vietnam. I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture.This past Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama stated his view on waterboarding in this answer to a question from George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week:
For example, Vice President Cheney, I think, continues to defend what he calls extraordinary measures or procedures when it comes to interrogations, and from my view waterboarding is torture. I have said that under my administration we will not torture.
Alberto Gonzales, Michael Mukasey:
May I Have Your Attention?
(Thanks to Think Progress)
An Open Note to Mr. Gonzales, Mr. Mukasey, and Everyone Who Supported or Enabled Them:
President-elect Obama and Attorney General-designate Holder are not promulgating a new legal precedent classifying waterboarding as torture. Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Mukasey, you were wrong; your circumstantial legal relativism contradicts the Geneva Conventions and the U.S. Constitution. The rule of law is not to be interpreted at your personal or political convenience.
Mr. Gonzales, your tenure as Attorney General was a failure and a disgrace. Mr. Mukasey, your choice to look the other way is reprehensible.
Torture – Ending The Ugly Reality Will Require Accountability
For nearly 8 years, propaganda, guile, and self-serving amnesia obscured an ugly reality. Most of Congress suspended critical thought and ignored its oversight responsibilities until 2006. Even then, the Democratic leadership tempered accountability with political expediency. The damage done won't repair itself. It will take a lawful reckoning to restore the rule of law and move us forward. Recently, on the presidential transition website, Change.gov, the question submitted most often was, “Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor (ideally Patrick Fitzgerald) to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?"
A George W. Bush for President 2000 campaign brochure opens with these words:
I’m running for President because I want to help usher in the responsibility era, where people understand they are responsible for the choice they make and are held accountable for their actions.It would be fitting and just that his administration ends with nothing less.
Edited 1-16-09 at 11:00 pm
