We
know every state does it, some more subtle, some more brutal, but
they all have their methods. I'm talking about torture, it is a tool
of the state and it will do everything in its power to hold onto it
in one form or another. The more we expose it the more difficult it
becomes for them, they have to work harder at justifying it, or
concealing it, or devising new methods. Torture will continue until we
rid ourselves of that shackle on our freedom, the state. That doesn't
mean we should ignore torture until that day arrives, we have to expose it
and campaign against it, when ever we get any information regarding
torture. Never forget, it is a human being that is being tortured, no matter the name the state puts on that being, it may be an autocratic institution that sanctions the act, but it is also human beings that implement those actions.
This
interesting article from Human Rights First:
The
argument about whether torture works is still raging. Four years
after President Obama ended the torture program, torture proponents
continue to claim that torture saved American lives and was necessary
to find criminals like Osama bin Laden. Just last week, Condoleezza
Rice said that because of torture, “we have not had a successful
attack on our territory.”
I
served the CIA for 23 years, and I was directly involved in the
“enhanced interrogation” program. I know from experience that
torture not only undermined our values and Constitution, it made us
less safe.
The
Senate Intelligence Committee has produced the most comprehensive
report on the post-9/11 CIA torture program, based on a review of
more than 6 million pages of official records. Those who have read
the report say that it shows the CIA torture program was much more
widespread and cruel than we thought, and much less effective at
gathering actionable intelligence than torture proponents claim.
However, the Obama
Administration is sitting on this report and has delayed its release.
On Friday, Vice President Biden supported the report's release. Ask
President Obama to work with Congress to declassify the torture
report.
Senator
Dianne Feinstein, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, and national security experts (me included) have said
publicly that torture did not lead to bin Laden or save American
lives. But until this report is released, torture proponents will
continue to argue that we should return to torture.
Let’s be clear: torture is
un-American, illegal, and immoral. Let’s end this debate once and
for all. Urge
President Obama to work with Congress to declassify the torture
report.
Glenn Carle
Former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats, National Intelligence Council
Author, The Interrogator
Former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats, National Intelligence Council
Author, The Interrogator
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