President Calls for Prosecution of Torturers
President Bush, that is. This has been floating around the Internet. I found an original at the website of the American embassy in Italy.
I wish the blogs and the media would have gotten involved in the topic of torture a long time ago, but I'm glad they finally are -- I don't want this to become a torture blog, but it is exactly the kind of immorality that we need to drag out into the sunshine and put an end to. When you think of the regimes of the Dark Ages you picture that skinny, lice-eaten guy with the long beard chained to the dungeon wall, and when people in the future think of our times they will see us that way, too. We shouldn't have let it happen, and now we need to clear our name.
At least President Bush had the momentary clarity to call for his own prosecution six years ago. I say, let's take him at his word.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
June 26, 2003
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
Today, on the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the United States declares its strong solidarity with torture victims across the world. Torture anywhere is an affront to human dignity everywhere. We are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law.
Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, ratified by the United States and more than 130 other countries since 1984, forbids governments from deliberately inflicting severe physical or mental pain or suffering on those within their custody or control. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit. Beating, burning, rape, and electric shock are some of the grisly tools such regimes use to terrorize their own citizens. These despicable crimes cannot be tolerated by a world committed to justice....
The United States is committed to the world-wide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example. I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment. I call on all nations to speak out against torture in all its forms and to make ending torture an essential part of their diplomacy. I further urge governments to join America and others in supporting torture victims' treatment centers, contributing to the UN Fund for the Victims of Torture, and supporting the efforts of non-governmental organizations to end torture and assist its victims.
No people, no matter where they reside, should have to live in fear of their own government. Nowhere should the midnight knock foreshadow a nightmare of state-commissioned crime. The suffering of torture victims must end, and the United States calls on all governments to assume this great mission.
I wish the blogs and the media would have gotten involved in the topic of torture a long time ago, but I'm glad they finally are -- I don't want this to become a torture blog, but it is exactly the kind of immorality that we need to drag out into the sunshine and put an end to. When you think of the regimes of the Dark Ages you picture that skinny, lice-eaten guy with the long beard chained to the dungeon wall, and when people in the future think of our times they will see us that way, too. We shouldn't have let it happen, and now we need to clear our name.
At least President Bush had the momentary clarity to call for his own prosecution six years ago. I say, let's take him at his word.
posted by JimK at 9:55 PM
15 Comments:
The statement reads (in part),
Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit. Beating, burning, rape, and electric shock are some of the grisly tools such regimes use to terrorize their own citizens.
...
No people, no matter where they reside, should have to live in fear of their own government.To which Jim myopically replies,
At least President Bush had the momentary clarity to call for his own prosecution six years ago. I say, let's take him at his word.Jim, Jim, Jim...you just don't disappoint, do you? Guess what, I hope you get your wish...however, be careful of what you wish for...
So, how do I think this will play out? I could think of little that would be better suited to distract and dissipate President Obama, the Congress and the Angry Left from their oh-so-progressive agenda than a Holy Inquisition of all the Sins of the former Administration (real and imaginary). At some point a majority of Americans will get sick of this nonsense (much like they did with that "vast right wing conspiracy" against President Clinton, and public opinion will turn. It is called over playing one's hand, and it originates from that basic human flaw known as hubris, something even known to those with only a casual familiarity of any number of classical Greek Tragedies.
Andrea not anon
Speaking of torture- I guess that is what Arlen did to the Republicans. Mitch McConnell got it so bad he said that this is a Pennsylvania issue, not a national issue. Right on, Republicans, keep on ignoring the facts.
I will now claim Arlen as one of my Philly friends.
It is called over playing one's hand, and it originates from that basic human flaw known as hubris,I couldn't have put it any better myself, Orin. That's exactly what we put up with for the past 8 years, the GOP overplaying its hand, originating from the hubris of Bush/Cheney. That's why so many Americans voted for, and are still hopeful for the change Obama is bringing.
Obama 100 days press conference transcript
April 29, 2009
Comments on torture:
Q: Thank you, Mr. President. You’ve said in the past that waterboarding, in your opinion, is torture. Torture is a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions. Do you believe that the previous administration sanctioned torture?
OBAMA: What I’ve said — and I will repeat — is that waterboarding violates our ideals and our values. I do believe that it is torture. I don’t think that’s just my opinion; that’s the opinion of many who’ve examined the topic. And that’s why I put an end to these practices.
I am absolutely convinced it was the right thing to do, not because there might not have been information that was yielded by these various detainees who were subjected to this treatment, but because we could have gotten this information in other ways, in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways that were consistent with who we are.
I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said, “We don’t torture,” when the entire British — all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat. And then the reason was that Churchill understood, you start taking shortcuts, over time, that corrodes what’s — what’s best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country.
And — and so I strongly believed that the steps that we’ve taken to prevent these kinds of enhanced interrogation techniques will make us stronger over the long term and make us safer over the long term because it will put us in a — in a position where we can still get information. In some cases, it may be harder, but part of what makes us, I think, still a beacon to the world is that we are willing to hold true to our ideals even when it’s hard, not just when it’s easy.
At the same time, it takes away a critical recruitment tool that al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations have used to try to demonize the United States and justify the killing of civilians. And it makes us — it puts us in a much stronger position to work with our allies in the kind of international, coordinated intelligence activity that can shut down these networks. So this is a decision that I’m very comfortable with. And I think the American people over time will recognize that it is better for us to stick to who we are, even when we’re taking on an unscrupulous enemy. OK?
Q: (OFF-MIKE)
OBAMA: I’m sorry?
Q: (OFF-MIKE) sanctioned torture?
OBAMA: I believe that waterboarding was torture. And I think that the — whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake.
Mark Knoller?
Q: Thank you, sir. Let me follow up, if I may, on Jake’s question. Did you read the documents recently referred to by former Vice President Cheney and others saying that the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques not only protected the nation but saved lives?
And if part of the United States were under imminent threat, could you envision yourself ever authorizing the use of those enhanced interrogation techniques?
OBAMA: I have read the documents. Now they have not been officially declassified and released. And so I don’t want to go to the details of them. But here’s what I can tell you, that the public reports and the public justifications for these techniques, which is that we got information from these individuals that were subjected to these techniques, doesn’t answer the core question. Which is, could we have gotten that same information without resorting to these techniques? And it doesn’t answer the broader question, are we safer as a consequence of having used these techniques?
So when I made the decision to release these memos and when I made the decision to bar these practices, this was based on consultation with my entire national security team, and based on my understanding that ultimately I will be judged as commander in chief on how safe I’m keeping the American people.
That’s the responsibility I wake up with and it’s the responsibility I go to sleep with. And so I will do whatever is required to keep the American people safe. But I am absolutely convinced that the best way I can do that is to make sure that we are not taking short cuts that undermine who we are. And there have been no circumstances during the course of this first 100 days in which I have seen information that would make me second guess the decision that I have made. OK?
fascinating cut and paste, Bea
any thoughts of your own that you can make public?
LOL, thanks for the laugh bad anonymous, nothing quite like the pot calling the kettle black. Even better you cut and paste from Focus on the "Family" like you think they're some kind of authority.
Orin, you know hubris - nobody does it better than you.
Priya is a subject of the Queen of England.
Have you got a problem with England, Anon, Bush's #1 ally in the attack and occupation of Iraq?
Bush himself seems to like the Queen of England. Remember this one? Blundering Bush makes ANOTHER gaffe as he winks at the Queen
oh, England's fine and all
it's just when Priya gets up on a high horse, talking about rights and constitutions and deviant behavior, we need to keep in mind that Priya is the subject of a monarchy
LOL, Bad anonymous I love it when you display your ignorance of the world outside your borders. Canada has its own constitution and Charter of rights and freedoms.
look in your pocket
the queen's on the money
try crossing her and well see who's royalty
I'd explain the queeen's role to you but I prefere you to remain ignorant and regularly displaying your stupidity.
President Reagan also called for prosecution of torturers. The CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Reagan signed states:
...no one may be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment...
...No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture...
...Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law...
"I'd explain the queeen's role to you but I prefere you to remain ignorant and regularly displaying your stupidity."
That's quite alright.
Just know that we who live in the greatest and most free land in the world aren't interested in the opinions of a monarchist on our constitution.
You're blinded by your devotion to your "queeeeen"!
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