The torture debate in Congress--I never expected to write such words--is as surreal to me as watching the collapse of the Twin Towers. If the Democrats are able to take control of at least one chamber in November, then surely the President's pro-torture bill will be viewed in hindsight as the nadir of the Bush presidency. If not, how much lower can things go?
I am beyond being able to assess the political implications, one way or the other, of this spectacle. Regardless of which version of the bill finally passes, this debate is a black mark on the soul of the nation. Of course passage of a pro-torture bill will diminish U.S. standing internationally and jeopardize the safety and well-being of U.S. servicemen in future engagements. But merely having this debate has already accomplished that. Does anyone honestly believe that if Congress rebuffs the President in every respect that the rule of law and the inviolability of human rights will have been vindicated? Of course not.
I remember when it first came out that we were torturing people. I just couldn't believe that this country had stooped so low. It made me utterly sick to be part of a society that did this. It still does but I am no longer horrified or shocked. I'm used to it. And that, perhaps, is the most distressing development of all. For that is exactly what the administration wants - for torture to be normalized.
Unfortunately, the torture debate is just one more example of our arrogance and hypocrisy in dealing with other countries and belief systems. We want to be able to torture any prisoners we capture because they must be terrorists and therefore wrong. At the same, time we do not want our captured sevicemen torutred because they are honorable soldiers of the USA and therefore right. How can the rest of the world not see this? How dare they consider that they might be right and we might be wrong. It has been said that there is no true honor in war--it seems we are trying our best to prove that adage correct.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn L.