Last night as I was trying to fall asleep by thinking of how a Muslim Republican must feel, I heard echoes of John McCain’s recent interviews on torture. He has been promoting his bill that would make it clear that American forces do not torture. Despite saying repeatedly that “we do not torture,” the White House seeks to exempt CIA operatives from McCain’s bill.
Defenders of the White House say that what the CIA does is no different from what we put our own troops through in training. Just in case they are tortured they are trained to handle some levels of torture. I can see how one finds comfort in this argument. After all, what’s not bad for us can’t be bad for them right? Maybe not. Perhaps these operatives do perform waterboarding or some other tactic that a Navy Seal may also be put through. But consider this major difference: The Navy Seal knows he is just going through training and he will not be irreparably harmed. The current detainees have no such assurances. Indeed, if allowed, the CIA may perform these tactics repeatedly over the course of months and years. The Seal has the option to quit. When you hear this argument given in defense of CIA exemption, go the next step and think deeper about what they will be able to do.
The State Of . . . torture is viewed as being alive and well in America unfortunately. We know that we are a good country and so are our leaders. But we, the people, have to serve as a check on them sometimes when they come across a slippery slope. The guards at Abu Ghraib were not trained to do the things they did, but they were put in that situation and bad things happened. If CIA operatives are allowed to act outside the Geneva Code (as they are now) or even McCain’s bill, they will be at the cross roads.
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