June 30, 2009 at 00:15:59

Obama's Torture Hypocrisy

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By Jason Leopold (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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"We were asked not to immediately register the individual, and we did that," Rumsfeld told reporters at the time.

Documents obtained by the Senate Armed Services Committee go even
further. Minutes of an Oct. 2, 2002, meeting at which Lt. Col. Diane
Beaver, then the chief military lawyer at Guantanamo whose
responsibilities included working with the ICRC, discussed concealing
abusive interrogation tactics when ICRC officials visited.

"We may need to curb the harsher operations while ICRC is around,"
Beaver said, according to the minutes. "It is better not to expose them
to any controversial techniques."

"We have had many reports from Bagram [detention center in Afghanistan]
about sleep deprivation being used," responded Dave Becker of the
Defense Intelligence Agency.

"True, but officially it is not happening," Beaver said. "It is not
being reported officially. The ICRC is a serious concern. They will be
in and out, scrutinizing our operations, unless they are displeased and
decide to protest and leave. This would draw a lot of negative
attention."

Jonathan Fredman, who was the chief counsel for the CIA's
Counterterrorism Center, noted that the "the CIA is not held to the
same rules as the military" when it comes to using aggressive
techniques to interrogate detainees.

"In the past when the ICRC has made a big deal about certain detainees,
the DOD has 'moved' them away from the attention of the ICRC," Fredman
said. "The Torture Convention prohibits torture and cruel, inhumane and
degrading treatment. The US did not sign up on the second part, because
of the 8th amendment (cruel and unusual punishment), but we did sign
the part about torture. This gives us more license to use more
controversial techniques."

Beaver interjected: "We will need documentation to protect us."

High-Minded Words

Taking office in January, Obama announced that his administration would
not condone or practice torture, but he also opposed holding Bush
administration officials accountable out of fear that his actions might
be deemed vindictive. He has held to that position although Attorney
General Eric Holder and CIA Director Leon Panetta both agreed that the
near-drowning experience of waterboarding was torture.

Bush's Justice Department lawyers also approved a list of other torture
techniques to be used against so-called "high-value" prisoners,
including beatings, sleep deprivation for 11 consecutive days, placing
insects inside a confinement box to induce fear, exposing detainees to
extreme heat and cold, and shackling prisoners to the ceilings of their
prison cells or in other painful "stress positions."

Under the Convention Against Torture, the clear record that the Bush
administration used waterboarding and other brutal techniques should
have triggered the United States to conduct a full investigation and to
prosecute the offenders. If the United States refused, other nations
would be obligated to act under the principle of universality.

Instead, Obama's high-minded declaration on Friday substituted words for action.

"Torture violates United States and
international law as well as human dignity," he said. "Torture is
contrary to the founding documents of our country, and the fundamental
values of our people. It diminishes the security of those who carry it
out, and surrenders the moral authority that must form the basis for
just leadership.

"That is why the United States must never engage in torture, and must stand against torture wherever it takes place."

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Jason Leopold is editor of the online investigative news magazine The Public Record, http://www.pubrecord.org, and the author of the National Bestseller, "News Junkie," a memoir. Visit www.newsjunkiebook.com for a preview. He is also a two-time (more...)

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