The Persecution of John Kiriakou: Torture and the Myth of Never Again

[marmar]

from TomDispatch:





The Persecution of John Kiriakou
Torture and the Myth of Never Again

By Peter Van Buren


Here is what military briefers like to call BLUF, the Bottom Line Up Front: no one except John Kiriakou is being held accountable for America’s torture policy. And John Kiriakou didn’t torture anyone, he just blew the whistle on it.

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

A long time ago, with mediocre grades and no athletic ability, I applied for a Rhodes Scholarship. I guess the Rhodes committee at my school needed practice, and I found myself undergoing a rigorous oral examination. Here was the final question they fired at me, probing my ability to think morally and justly: You are a soldier. Your prisoner has information that might save your life. The only way to obtain it is through torture. What do you do?

At that time, a million years ago in an America that no longer exists, my obvious answer was never to torture, never to lower oneself, never to sacrifice one’s humanity and soul, even if it meant death. My visceral reaction: to become a torturer was its own form of living death. (An undergrad today, after the “enhanced interrogation” Bush years and in the wake of 24, would probably detail specific techniques that should be employed.) My advisor later told me my answer was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise spectacularly unsuccessful interview.

It is now common knowledge that between 2001 and about 2007 the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sanctioned acts of torture committed by members of the Central Intelligence Agency and others. The acts took place in secret prisons (“black sites”) against persons detained indefinitely without trial. They were described in detail and explicitly authorized in a series of secret torture memos drafted by John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and Steven Bradbury, senior lawyers in the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel. (Office of Legal Counsel attorneys technically answer directly to the DOJ, which is supposed to be independent from the White House, but obviously was not in this case.) Not one of those men, or their Justice Department bosses, has been held accountable for their actions. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175591/tomgram%3A_peter_van_buren%2C_our_9_11_torturers/#more

[Th1onein]

2. What can we, EACH of us, as individuals, do for this man?

What can we do? Who should we write to?

[Demeter]

3. Beat me to it

When THIS issue is resolved (and it will be resolved...either internally by the people, or externally by the revenge-seekers), there may be hope for a small-d democracy in America again.

But, since this policy is the result of decades of field work in South and Central America, I don't hold out much hope for an internal resolution.

[OnyxCollie]

4. K&R. nt

[zeos3]

5. Kick