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President Obama
(January 2009)
He didnt have to do it, since it was the law of the land already.
But President Obamas executive order banning torture was necessary,
appropriate, and courageous. When the history of the Bush Administration
is written, its deceitful, slippery, cynical and self-righteous approval
of torture as an interrogation device will be its most shameful legacy,
the critical point where the U.S. abandoned its ideals and values, descending
to the level of its worst enemies to combat them. Even now, many Americans just do not comprehend how heinous torture
is and why the banning of it must be absolute. Here is Bush speechwriter
Marc Thiessen in an op-ed for the Washington Post: It was easy for Obama the candidate to criticize the CIA program.
But as president, what will he do when the next senior al-Qaeda leader
— with actionable intelligence on plots to strike our homeland — is
captured and refuses to talk? Will the president allow the CIA to question
this terrorist using enhanced interrogation techniques? If Obama refuses
and our country is attacked, he will bear responsibility. No, the responsibility will be that of the United States of America,
its people, culture, and the ideas and principles that created it and
that have been the foundation of its success. If a terrorist leader
wont talk, then the United States will have to find solutions and methods
that do not violate the law, human rights, and the Declaration of Independence.
It is as simple as that. That is what an absolute is. And, Mr. Thiessen,
if one has to use a euphemism like enhanced interrogation techniques
to describe conduct, it can only be because one is afraid and ashamed
to be clear. You are talking about torture. And just as the United States
cannot use germ warfare, assassinate heads of state during peacetime,
or allow its troops to rape women and murder children, torture is not
an option. It never should have been an option. Obamas own Secretary of Defense doesnt understand this, apparently,
standing as an Ethics Dunce in contrast with his boss. (Does every Ethics
Hero have an equal and opposite Ethics Dunce? A good topic for research!)
Upon the issuing of the executive order, Robert Gates said that the
need to go beyond the manual [yet another euphemism for torture!]
is "dramatically less than it was several years ago." Wrong, wrong, so wrong! There is never a need for conduct
that violates a cultures core values. President Obama expressed this
perfectly by saying, as he prepared to sign the order, that regarding
torture as off-limits for a country dedicated to the human spirit is
an understanding that dates back to our founding fathers, that we
are willing to observe core standards of conduct, not just when it's
easy but also when it's hard." Exactly. Thank you, Mr. President.
E-mail: ProEthics President
