The American Use of Torture

George Bush today defended his administration's policy of using torture* - which he says isn't torture but rather extreme interrogation techniques including pain-inducing methods - to obtain information from those suspected of terrrorism or connected to terrorism or otherwise targeted by the Bush Administration.

This comes as a result of the recent release of a Treasury Department memo dated from early 2005 authorizing the use of such techniques after the White House denounced the use of such methods in late 2004.

The President said the American people expect the government to protect them from terrorism inferring that the American people had authorized all and every method to obtain any useful or useless information even if that method included torture or was applied against innocent civilians.

America was not founded upon the concept of applying pain to prisoners. We did not come to be the most respected and admired nation in the nation by using torture. We did not come to be perceived as that "shining light on the hill" if that light is lit by lamps from torture chambers and illegal prisons.

The use of torture, illegal kidnapping (renditions), unconstitutional wiretaps, illegal mail opening and other such techniques were once the domain solely of such nefarious nations as Red China, Communist Cuba, Pol Pot's Cambodia, the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. Now this Administration has pushed the United States into this nether group of nations. Is it any wonder then, that people and nations around the world have come to disrespect the United States, to find it abhorrent and evil, a pariah among nations? Is it any wonder that people harbor acrimony and disgust with the actions of the United States government? Is it wonder that the actions of the Bush Administration are met with contempt and condemnation both at home and abroad?

The people of the United States expect the government to keep them safe, but not at the expense of their liberties. We expect the government to protect us from evil abroad, but not by practicing that same evil. We expect the government to thoroughly investigate those who would harm us, but not by harming others. We demand the goverment to protect us from our enemies, but not by becoming the enemy. George Bush and those within and without this Administration who wield the reins of power claim they know the thoughts of the American people, but all they really know is how to consolidate that power and wield it across all peoples at the expense of all people. All they really know how to do is to crush those who oppose their power - whether at home or abroad.

The actions of this Administration have undermined the security and reputation of the United States more than any Administration in history. Our military is in shambles, violent crime is rebounding, and the people of this nation feel we are off track. We have ceased to be a great nation because of what this Administration has done. We can do more, we can better, but only if great leaders step forward who are not afraid to act, who are not afraid to expose the secrets this Administration keeps hidden, who are courageous enough to act and speak when others cower.

We can do more and we can do better. But it is up to you. Speak the truth, act boldly, speak your conscience. There is no law against the truth. There is no law against love. America has been and will be again the greatest nation amongst all nations of Earth. Of that, I have no doubt.


* Torture - the application of pain whether physical, mental or emotional in whatever degree.