By James BlueWolf ? letters to the editor
A reader”s opinion that prosecuting torturers and superiors for utilizing the fanciful scribbling of morally bankrupt lawyers to justify their outrages is a “fool”s errand” demonstrates how far toward psychopathic one segment of our population has traveled.
The practice of water-boarding was common in Europe during the Middle Ages and the Inquisition utilized it frequently. During the Spanish-American War a U.S. military officer was court-martialed for using it and Roosevelt publicly called to “prevent the occurrence of all such acts in the future.”
It was a tactic of the Gestapo and Japanese during WWII and a Japanese officer was prosecuted for water-boarding an American Captain. U.S. soldiers in Vietnam used the process until protests by American Generals caused one soldier to be court-martialed.
Despite Cheney”s assertions, no experienced interrogator has ever testified to torture being effective in gathering intelligence from military personnel. The reason civilians think water-boarding is effective is because they know these processes would be effective against them! New information shows that the intelligence gleaned from prominent terrorists was revealed well before “torture techniques” were utilized, leading to questions as to why they were necessary at all.
Armchair warriors like Bush and Cheney ignored the protestations of their own generals and interrogators to continue down this path of idiocy. Now, they should be held accountable.
It fascinates me that our society scrunches up our moral noses in disgust at visible sexuality, yet sits placidly by while our children are exposed to endless hours of watching human beings killing each other. Americans face a choice ? to continue talking out of both sides of our mouth when it comes to morality ? or to choose to practice what is right and not what is ? in the end ? simply a flashy pretense of toughness by cowardly leaders.
James Bluewolf
