Turns out that that trainers at Gitmo were pulling verbatim techniques from the Chinese communists--techniques, it turns out, that were intended to produce false confessions. Earlier reports had some of the techniques taken from KGB manuals, and then there is, of course, the use of former gulags as "black sites" to hold terrorist suspects.
Some of you know this, but I grew up in a Republican world with the Cold War ringing in my ears. I remember, very distinctly, worrying about nuclear attack, and hearing phrases like "better dead than red." I remember every mention of how the communists in the Soviet Union and China had no respect for human rights--every example of "kangaroo courts" and other forms of fake justice. As a young man, the idea of who we were as a people was firmly rooted in the oppositional force of this kind of totalitarianism.
When I read about my country converting old gulags, and recycling old communist torture techniques, it makes me sick to my stomach. More than that, I see how little people (not readers of this blog, obviously) care about this. I remember when the first allegations of torture appeared. I said to SOF (incredibly naively, as it turns out) that torture would force a divide between Christian conservatives and the Bush people. To say I was wrong is to understate it. Amazingly, most of the conservative Christians who led the charge for Bush in 2000 not only signed on again in 04, but again for the party in 06. And even more, they said nothing critical about torture.
It makes me sad for who we have become.
7 comments:
I grew up with a lot of the same fears. I can remember actually laying awake at night afraid of a nuclear attack. Stupid movies like Red Dawn and The Day After used to plague my thoughts. Would I, like those kids in Red Dawn, have to take up a rifle and shoot a Russian? Could I? Would I be brave enough?
I remember loathing communism and being taught that communists were not people. The fear generated an inexplicable hatred for people I did not know nor had ever even seen except on a TV screen.
It staggers me--staggers me--that there is NO conservative voice against torture. I do not understand. When it comes to basic human rights and dignity, this should not be a liberal vs. conservative issue. It is a being human issue.
I was reading a patriotism post at an SBC blog day before yesterday (I'm not sure why) and one commenter suggested that we should not just pray for the safety of our troops but for the safety of the terrorists as well. He invoked Matthew 5:44. Of course the verse needed parsing; the commenter said in response, and I cut and pasted. Hope that's OK.
That is a great verse out of Matthew, however, you have added your personal interpretation to it. It is one thing to… “pray for them” as Jesus said, but quite another thing to… “pray for the safety of the terrorists.”
Had the allied forces in World War 2 followed your advice, we would all be speaking German today.
Matthew 5:13… “Ye are the salt of the earth:”
Matthew 5:14… “Ye are the light of the world:”
Salt and Light [name]… not at home, not at church, but of the earth and world (all spheres of life, even politics :)
Yes, the smiley at the end cancels out all the inanity of that comment.
I remember when the first allegations of torture appeared.
It seems that there are some that will condone it because they believe it is some kind of necessity. Others seem to deny that it is happening. Both, IMO, are equally wrong.
I grew up with the boogeyman that was the USSR. I never was a fan of them, but I seem to have got a realistic view of how some of our policies were not so noble. I had a friend whose mom was kind of a local celeb because she was such a ultra-lefty radical, so she used to lecture us on all sorts of things.
It staggers me--staggers me--that there is NO conservative voice against torture. I do not understand.
I know I have said this before, but there are people speaking out against torture. Blogger Eugene Volokh is pretty popular and he has consistently spoken out against torture. There are others, but I would agree that the neocon branch of conservatism has been silent on any condemnation of torture.
Steves, you are right, of course. There are conservatives who have been very angered by this. I think Tony is talking a lot about religious conservatives--the same ones who followed Bush pretty lockstep and seem to be among the 23 percent still doing so. Those brought up in the teachings of the church seem to have missed some key steps--as Tony notes--when they can say that "jesus clearly didn't mean to pray for these enemies."
Sorry Steve--I should have been more specific in saying religious conservatives. There has been NO statement by Southern Baptists regarding torture, by in large because they approve of it. They say they don't apply a situation ethic but they do. :)
I actually followed the SBC in Indy this past June just to see if a resolution would be passed. They passed one on the war on Christmas. But not one on a basic human rights issue.
Yet SBs will claim to be the conservatives' conservatives. But like I said this is basic human rights--its not about liberal vs. conservative--that really is a side issue.
Its amazing to me the bloodlust of several religious conservatives; Dick Land in particular.
Seems to me that when people worship power, they don't have much trouble staying faithful to their god. Most conservative Christian groups (and all the ones that make the news) seem to be pretty authoritarian, so anyone who has a lot of power and pretends to value their opinions is going to hold a lot of sway with them.
Maybe I'm cynical because I grew up in an environment where principles weren't for living by so much as demonizing people who wouldn't assert them.
Leighton, I think you are probably right, though it pains me to say. This is probably the reason why many CC's rub me the wrong way and get on my nerves.
This is probably the reason why many CC's rub me the wrong way and get on my nerves.
:-)
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