Punchlines

U.S. torture tactics shame us all. WASHINGTON -- Thank goodness for whistle-blowers, those public servants who think Americans should know the harm that is being inflicted in our name.

Some of those high-minded officials recently revealed to The New York Times that the Bush administration has abandoned its 2004 legal opinion that torture is "abhorrent" and instead has resumed "brutal interrogations."

The Times said two subsequent Justice Department legal opinions -- implemented by then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales -- gave the go-ahead for interrogators to resort to physical and psychological tactics that inflict pain.

The authorization endorsed use of the harshest techniques applied by the CIA, including head slapping, "waterboarding" that simulates drowning, holding detainees in frigid temperatures, manacling prisoners in stress positions for hours, sleep deprivation for days and nights and subjecting them to long hours of thundering rock music.

The Times said this was the first time in U.S. history that the federal government authorized such tactics. The new orders also renew the CIA's authority to hold prisoners in so-called overseas black sites. The secret detention centers reportedly are located in Afghanistan, Thailand and Eastern Europe, where brutal tactics can be employed out of sight. They apparently are secret only to Americans.

The Times reported "nervous" CIA interrogators from abroad sent inquiries back to agency lawyers at headquarters to ask: "Are we breaking the laws against torture?"

-------Helen, Helen, Helen. I know you've been around the block more than once and know better. Please, please just let your progressive ideas rub off on police departments nationwide and boot camp guards and nurses. Please, please intervene the next time the feds blast loud music and screams of dying animals at a Waco compound. And please please write sappy condemnations the next time the US blasts Van Halen and Howard Stern at the next Manny Effing Noriega.

The US "left" isn't concerned with torture or they'd clean up domestic prisons of torture and police brutality. The "left" uses unsubstantiated stories, trots out a couple of "victims" who, strangely enough, survived to tell all. The "left" wag fingers at the Bush team, all the while they're the other team who play the same game when in power.

What bothers white liberals is that the federal government has officially authorized such tactics, not that the government always has and will continue to use such tactics.

"Nervous CIA interrogators"?? Oh please. Have you ever met a CIA interrogator? They're usually paramilitary contractors – not CIA "employees", but what the hell – the US contracts out most everything else – why not interrogation. I've heard, however, the CIA is again building up SOG units – if you believe they were ever disbanded to begin with.

Let's take a look at a typical CIA interrogator. Johnny Michael Spann, an "American hero" who was "interviewing" prisoners in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan in 2001 when he was killed during a prison revolt. Spann's is the 79th star chiseled on the wall of honor at the CIA. Spann's father remarked that Johnny said "Someone's got to do the things that no one else wants to do."

Was Spann, or today's interrogators, "nervous" about those "things"? Not repulsed by their interrogation work – just nervous about covering their ass.

So, when you rush to see the latest Hollywood thriller, Rendition, a movie depicting US torture (according to MSM), think of Johnny Spann, guy next door family man, adventurer, commando spy, interrogating and doing the things no one else wants to do.

Yessirree, kidnapping innocent dedicated family men who are secreted to "black sites" and tortured endlessly by other dedicated family men until they admit to the things their Johnny Spann interviewers want to hear. There's as much truth in Rendition as there was in Saving Jessica Lynch. One big screen, one TV movie – both to manipulate sheeple's opinion on the latest US war for profit.

As for the "harm being inflicted in our name" with "brutal interrogations" - if you believe BushCo and "neocons" are operating any differently than the US has always operated you are a fool. The US has never been respected for morality or doing the right thing – the world stands in awe of the US for doing whatever the ruling class corporatocracy wants to do and making money doing it. And you need to understand the difference between respect and awe.

I'm reminded these days of Jessup's speech in A Few Good Men:

You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!

The opposition - progressives/left/liberals/democrats – don't want truth – they wanna hold office.