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It gets worse. The two faux-psychologists to whom CIA leaders turned to show them how to torture, James Elmer Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, are both Mormons. They are still widely referred to by other U.S. interrogators as the "Mormon mafia."
Add to the mix Robert Walpole, the CIA analyst who wove out of whole cloth what has been referred to as "The Whore of Babylon" the worst National Intelligence Estimate in the history of U.S. intelligence. "Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction" dated Oct. 1, 2002, was a deliberate and successful attempt to deceive Congress into authorizing war on Iraq.
In his memoir, At the Center of the Storm, former CIA Director George (slam-dunk) Tenet praises Walpole as a "brilliant analyst." In a transparent attempt to defend Walpole against charges of being "hell bent on war," Tenet insists that Walpole is "one of the most unlikely people to be accused of being a war hawk."
Tenet notes that Walpole did not think an attack on Iraq justifiable and Tenet makes a point of adding that Walpole is a Mormon bishop. Did Tenet think that that should do it as far as credibility was concerned? In the end, of course, Walpole did what he was told in managing the production of the Estimate that paved the way to war.
I know there are many Mormons besides Alyssa Peterson with integrity. It remains a mystery to me why so many of the ones who gain prominence seem to lose their sense of right and wrong when they are asked by hierarchical authority to do things they know are wrong.
In sum, with respect to the Christian churches I believe author Chris Hedges portrays the situation neatly, if sadly:
"The utter failure of nearly all our religious institutions whose texts are unequivocal about murder to address the essence of war has rendered them useless. These institutions have little or nothing to say in wartime because the god they worship is a false god, one that promises victory to those who obey the law and believe in the manifest destiny of the nation."
The Good News
Who would have thought we would have to turn to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to carry the moral ball on torture.
Adm. Mike Mullen has called his commanders on the carpet. He is reliably reported to have been so "appalled" and "disgusted" after viewing some of the abuse photos being kept under wraps by the Obama administration that he warned senior military officers on July 10: "We haven't all absorbed or applied all the lessons of Abu Ghraib."
Mullen ordered that more be done to halt detainee abuse. He is quoted as saying, "We're better than this; and now we have to show it."
Hopefully, Adm. Mullen will stay around long enough to start a thorough clean-up of the torture mess at least in the military. He has acted responsibly and with integrity on a number of issues; the country is lucky to have him in that very senior post. For it is clear that, as long as demagogues keep insisting that we are "at war" with global terrorists, all manner of abuse can be heaped on "the enemy."
It's always the same "during wartime." Here's what one widely admired U.S. general had to say about the German enemy during WWII. It is an attitude about which we must be aware, so that we can guard against it:
"My God, I actually pity those poor bastards we're going up against," said General George Patton. "We're not just going to shoot the bastards, we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. "
"Don't worry; I can assure you that you'll do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them. Spill their blood. Shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do."
Waiting for the Church?
