Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 23 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 12/16/14

Cheney on CIA torture: "I'd do it again in a minute"

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   11 comments
Message Patrick Martin

Reprinted from WSWS

Dick Cheney Breaks The Word 'Torture' With His Twisted, Evil Logic.
Copyrighted Image? DMCA
>The interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney on NBC's "Meet the Press" program Sunday morning showed both the unapologetic savagery of American imperialism and its deepening crisis.

Cheney defended the Bush administration's CIA torture program against its partial exposure through the release last week of a Senate Intelligence Committee report that documents the criminality of CIA operatives and their political masters, including George W. Bush and Cheney himself.

Asked about particular torture methods, Cheney repeatedly defended such horrific and illegal actions as waterboarding, hanging prisoners by their arms from an overhead bar for 22 hours straight, and the procedure described as "involuntary rectal feeding," which he claimed was "done for medical reasons."

One remarkable exchange with interviewer Chuck Todd went as follows:

"Todd: Let me read you another one here. With Abu Zubaydah, over a 20-day period, aggressive interrogations. Spent a total of 266 hours, 11 days, two hours, in a large coffin-sized confinement box, 29 hours in a small confinement box, width of 21 inches, depth of 2.5 feet, height of 2.5 feet. That's on page 42. Is that going to meet the standard of the definition of torture?

"Cheney: I think that was, in fact, one of the approved techniques."

When asked about the CIA's own admission that at least one-quarter of the prisoners detained and abused at its secret "black sites" were innocent of any connection to terrorism, Cheney replied, "I have no problem as long as we achieve our objective." He reiterated, "I'd do it again in a minute."

The former vice president seemed especially incensed by the suggestion that the CIA had lied to the White House about what it was doing at its secret prisons. He went out of his way to declare, even boast, that he and President George W. Bush were fully informed of what the CIA was doing and approved it every step of the way.

Again from the "Meet the Press" transcript:

"Cheney: The notion that we were not notified at the White House about what was going on is not true. I sat through a lengthy session in '04 with the inspector general of the CIA as he reviewed the state of the program at that time. The suggestion, for example, that the president didn't approve it, wrong. That's a lie, that's not true... There would be special meetings from time to time on various subjects that he would be directly involved in. This man knew what we were doing. He authorized it; he approved it."

These statements should be entered as evidence at a future war crimes prosecution of Bush, Cheney and all those associated with the American torture enterprise.

When faced with the suggestion by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture that Bush administration officials -- including himself -- should be prosecuted, Cheney was contemptuous, but also defensive. He described it as "an outrageous proposition" that former US government officials even had to answer such questions.

On at least five occasions -- particularly when pressed to respond to a specific method of torture -- he tried to change the subject to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which have become the all-purpose excuse for every crime committed by American imperialism.

Cheney cited as proof that the Bush administration did not torture the legal opinions issued the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel that "specifically authorized and okayed... exactly what we did." In other words, the president's own lawyers, acting on his instructions, found that his orders to the CIA were legal. (In the same fashion, the Obama White House engineered a finding by the Office of Legal Counsel that the president could legally order the drone missile assassination of an American citizen.)

There was little to distinguish Cheney's arguments from the type of self-justification offered by the Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg Tribunal following World War II. Every action they took, Goering, Keitel, Frank and others declared, was justified by the necessities of war against a savage enemy. Every action was in accordance with the legal principles laid down by the Third Reich.

Those further down the Nazi chain of command, like the CIA operatives and contractors who actually carried out the torture at the secret prisons, would plead that they were "just following orders."

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 3   Well Said 2   Valuable 2  
Rate It | View Ratings

Patrick Martin Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Patrick Martin writes for the World Socialist Website (wsws.org), a forum for socialist ideas & analysis & published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Low-wage, No-raise Economy

Mounting political crisis in Washington amidst talk of removal of Trump

US House of Representatives votes to abolish Medicare

Nearly One Million US Workers Cut Off Unemployment Benefits

Obama hails deal to impose record cuts in social spending

US House of Representatives approves plan to destroy Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend