Torture Used To Help Fabricate Iraq-al Qaeda Link?
Perhaps this is the right place to make it clear that I've been tormented by my inability to obtain the kind of clarity about the torture memos that most liberals I admire have. I currently consider it a defect in myself that I am not outraged at the thought of slamming, say, KSM against a wall. This is not to say that I have any inclination to defend waterboarding, nor torture in general. I'm just trying to explain, quickly and briefly, that it often takes a considerable amount of time and effort for me to figure things out, and that's not going to happen until this semester is over. I am, of course, outraged and sickened by the knowledge that innocent or marginally guilty people have been tortured. I'm even outraged and sickened by the thought of the worst of the worst being waterboarded--not to mention 183 times in one month. But I'm just too detached, overworked, sick of politics and sleep-deprived right now to figure out exactly how I should think about all this. I'm probably not as outraged about CaterpillarGate as I ought to be. I go back and forth...
That's all by way of saying: I don't think I'm rushing to judgment about these memos in general.
But this...THIS...THIS is the fucking outrage of all outrages. This is like the intersection of multiple lines of evil in the Bush administration. I'm just about speechless right now, and had probably better STFU before I write something I'll regret later. I literally feel like I'm about to throw up.
If this is true, then we tortured people in order to generate disinformation in order to provide fodder for cooked intelligence in order to start a completely irrational war...which, incidentally, would deflect attention and resources away from the effort to find and destroy the actual perpetrators of 9/11--an event, may I remind you, in which almost 3,000 innocent people died mostly horrific deaths.
GOD DAMN IT.
Is it just me? Am I an outlier once again, or is this outrage so outrageous as to be almost off the scale even by the depraved standards of the Bush-Cheney era?
[H/T Matthew C.]
Perhaps this is the right place to make it clear that I've been tormented by my inability to obtain the kind of clarity about the torture memos that most liberals I admire have. I currently consider it a defect in myself that I am not outraged at the thought of slamming, say, KSM against a wall. This is not to say that I have any inclination to defend waterboarding, nor torture in general. I'm just trying to explain, quickly and briefly, that it often takes a considerable amount of time and effort for me to figure things out, and that's not going to happen until this semester is over. I am, of course, outraged and sickened by the knowledge that innocent or marginally guilty people have been tortured. I'm even outraged and sickened by the thought of the worst of the worst being waterboarded--not to mention 183 times in one month. But I'm just too detached, overworked, sick of politics and sleep-deprived right now to figure out exactly how I should think about all this. I'm probably not as outraged about CaterpillarGate as I ought to be. I go back and forth...
That's all by way of saying: I don't think I'm rushing to judgment about these memos in general.
But this...THIS...THIS is the fucking outrage of all outrages. This is like the intersection of multiple lines of evil in the Bush administration. I'm just about speechless right now, and had probably better STFU before I write something I'll regret later. I literally feel like I'm about to throw up.
If this is true, then we tortured people in order to generate disinformation in order to provide fodder for cooked intelligence in order to start a completely irrational war...which, incidentally, would deflect attention and resources away from the effort to find and destroy the actual perpetrators of 9/11--an event, may I remind you, in which almost 3,000 innocent people died mostly horrific deaths.
GOD DAMN IT.
Is it just me? Am I an outlier once again, or is this outrage so outrageous as to be almost off the scale even by the depraved standards of the Bush-Cheney era?
[H/T Matthew C.]
posted by Winston Smith at
12:15 PM
4 Comments:
Nah, you're good. Like I said, we're talking about the methodologies of STALIN, here. It's hard to top that in the evil department.
WS writes:
If this is true, then we tortured people in order to generate disinformation in order to provide fodder for cooked intelligence in order to start a completely irrational war...which, incidentally, would deflect attention and resources away from the effort to find and destroy the actual perpetrators of 9/11--an event, may I remind you, in which almost 3,000 innocent people died mostly horrific deaths.As best we can tell, WS, it appears that this is true. The US has committed acts that can only be described as evil. We tortured people to tell us the lies that we then used to help justify a needless war that has killed (as best we can tell) a few hundred thousand people and made refugees of a few million more.
If you are not sick to your stomach, you're not paying attention.
Have you checked to see if your congressman is on the house judiciary committee?
Jim Bales
He is, actually...and I intend to write this weekend. In fact, I intend to try to get an in-person meeting with him next time he's in his office in town.
But I hope you don't think there's much chance of me swaying Goodlatte on this issue.
WS,
Nope -- I don't think that you can sway him, all by yourself. But, the voters in his district and his donors are the people he has to listen to. So, the best way you can advance what is right is to try to align as much pressure as you can on him.
I suggest focusing on the facts that;
1) You are an independent voter (if this is true), and
2) Torture is bad for our troops.
It is bad for our troops in three ways. First, it generates false intelligence that leads to bad military decisions. Second, our torturing has strengthened our enemies by turning people against us and sending them into the arms of the terrorists. Third, it encourages our enemies to torture any Americans they may capture.
Therefore, he needs to send the strong signal that torture is wrong and unacceptable, because our troops depend on him doing so.
If he hears this often enough from enough people throughout his district, it can give him the political cover he needs to change position.
It is a long shot, but it is something concrete that you can do which may, in fact, help bring the perpetrators to justice.
Since you are a constituent, your voice carries more weight than mine. But, I am writing the chair and the Mass. Rep. on the committee (Delahunt), for what that is worth.
Best,
Jim
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home