Regarding Torture

When I was younger, I saw the world in much more vivid contrasts of black and white; now, I see so much of the world in shades of gray. I almost wish for the innocents of youth and the purity of ideas that saw a lot more black and white. I try to remind my self that because there are a lot of shades of gray that that does not mean that there is not a black and white.

Torture is wrong. I do not condone torture. On the other hand, we must have more tools at our disposal than simply asking politely when trying to get information from the bad guys. Anything between asking politely and absolute brutality with disregard for human life is a shade of gray. We know that intelligence activity involves lying and betrayal and deception and getting our hands dirty. In our everyday life, we do not condone these things.

As I have thought about the issue of the CIA’s roll in the use of what is generally considered torture, I think that the CIA was trying to draw a fine line somewhere along the scale of gray. There were complex rules that stated how many times waterbording could be used in any one 24 hour period and in any one month, and how long each session could last. I understand there were even requirements for the temperature of the water and a requirement that a doctor be present.

Were all of the rules governing waterboarding sufficient to keep the use of this “enhanced interrogation techniques” from crossing the gray scale from light gray to dark gray? I don’t know.

It is worth keeping in mind, that the CIA was not operating in a vacuum. This was not just George W. Bush and Dick Cheney acting independently or the CIA going it alone. There was Congressional oversight. Top legislators knew of interrogations. The CIA briefed Democrats and Republicans on the congressional intelligence committees more than 30 times about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. Congress could have stopped it. Congress did not object or withold funding.

Among those who were briefed and tacitly approved the techniques were many of the same Democrates, including Nacy Pelosi, who now want to prosecute George W. Bush. We should keep in mind, that these techniques occurred in the aftermath of 9/11 when everyone thought that another attack was eminent. If I would I have been one of the congressmen who sat in on the CIA briefing, would I have objected and publicly condemned it? I don’t think I would have. Maybe later I would regretted that I did not, but at the time, I would have probably acted no differently than the congressmen who sat in on those briefings. If Bush is prosecuted for approving the use of torture, so should Nancy Pelosi and every congressman who acquiesced and did not publicly object and try to stop it at the time. That is all of them.

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