Imagine a young Catholic boy who bullied a classmate. Now, imagine the same boy going to the confessional booth on Saturday to confess this sin to the priest. Confession is good for the soul, they say. It is really big of you to admit your wrongdoing. But, as those of us raised Catholic know, confession is not enough. It must be followed by an act of contrition. The "Hail Marys," of course. But also the priest is likely to instruct the boy to apologize to the classmate he bullied, not only must he promise to the boy to never do it again, he must be willing to accept whatever punishment that the bullying necessitates. Confession is good for the soul, but the complete confession, and true remorse comes with the willingness, and even desire, to be held accountable.
Today, the United States Senate released its report on a five-year-long investigation into the CIA's "Enhanced Interrogation" program. The details are gruesome, disgusting, and sound like something from the twisted mind of a depraved sociopathic sadist. There are the things we were already aware of: waterboarding, simulated drowning, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and now we find out about another perverse torture technique: rectal feeding.
At one CIA detention facility known as Cobalt, detainees were forced to stand on broken feet and legs. Another detainees' bullet wound was allowed to get infected. Another practice called "rectal feeding" was forced on prisoners without any medical need. This practice is not used in the United States for medical purposes today. Making matters worse, more than one-in-five detainees were innocent of any crime.
The Torture Report is somewhat a confessional. After years of semantic games, and justifications, and rationalizations, the United States, for the first time in its history has acknowledged it has committed torture. But those of us in the reality-based world already knew that the United States, under the Bush Regime, was engaged in torture. While they insisted waterboarding and physical abuse was nothing more than "frat pranks" as conservative leader Rush Limbaugh has described these acts, we knew it was torture.
We knew it was a crime. We knew it violated the treaties we helped construct and put our name to. The United States Constitution describes the treaties we sign as "the Supreme Law of the Land," and that makes the Geneva Conventions the Supreme Law of the Land. These acts violate those conventions to both letter and the spirit. These are crimes. And when crimes are committed, justice demands that those responsible be held accountable. Confession is not enough.
"Think about it," Vice President Joe Biden said today after the report was released, "name me another country that’s prepared to stand and say, ‘This was a mistake, we should not have done what we’ve done and we will not do it again." This may be true. Many other countries may just go to great lengths to hide what they do. They may never admit their guilt in anything. To the extent that this report stands as an admission of crimes by the United States that other countries would not admit, then the Torture Report is a testament that the United States is, however much, morally better off than others.
But the failing here is the United States' insistence on not holding those responsible accountable for these crimes. At the outset of his administration, President Barack Obama dismissed the idea that we should have an honest criminal investigation of the facts surrounding the US "enhanced interrogation" program. One might think that the details outlined in this report, which clearly outline crimes, would give the President second thoughts.
The grim details in this report are calling out for action. Nonetheless, no action by President Obama's Justice Department will be forthcoming. Repeating the same vein of thought that he has since the inception of his administration, President Obama said today "rather than another reason to refight old arguments, I hope that today's report can help us leave these techniques where they belong, in the past. "For those who continue to suffer such symptoms as dementia, paranoia, insomnia, and post-traumatic stress as a result of the torture perpetrated by those acting on behalf of the United States, the fights of the past are still here, and may never leave.
So, let's revisit that young Catholic boy. The one who bullied his classmate. It may be brave of him to confess to the priest of his wrongdoing. But what good is it if he is unwilling to be held accountable? What good is it if he doesn't do his acts of contrition? Has such a boy demonstrated true remorse? This is where the United States is today. It confesses its sin. It promises not to do it again. But shamefully, promises to the culprits that bygones are bygones. It is all in the past now. It just doesn't feel so good to my soul.
What?......no one cares?
ReplyDelete