Torture on the 4th of July

The United States celebrates its
Independence Day on July 4th, often marked by grandiose patriotic
displays, yet seldom do we take the time to seriously contemplate the
true meaning of patriotism.

This year's Independence Day
celebrations come just two days after Justice Department recanted on
the public release an unclassified version of the CIA Inspector
General's 2004 Report into the interrogations of "high-value
detainees" in the "War on Terror." Congressional staffers
described the report as the "holy grail," according to Greg
Sargent of the Plum Line, writing in May, "because it is expected
to detail torture in unprecedented detail and to cast doubt on the
claim that torture works."

As
a patriot who fought and sacrificed for our country, I ask all
Americans to stand up for what is civil, humane and right. If we
don't demand accountability for the crimes that were committed in our
name, then we as a nation will have effectively institutionalized the
torture of the last eight years. Let's keep the promise for ourselves
and all humanity, the promise that is our United States of America.
- Phillip Butler (8 Years as a
POW)

What does Independence Day mean to
those  individuals still being illegally detained? What does
Independence Day mean to those having been subjected to enhanced
interrogation techniques? techniques that both the international
community and our own jurisprudence define as torture. And what does
Independence Day mean to Kenneth Mosley? Mr. Mosley is scheduled to
be executed on July 16th using of a three-drug lethal injection
protocol which is so inhuman as to be described as torture in a
growing body of scientific peer-reviewed journals. In fact, the
three-drug lethal injection protocol used in Texas has the potential
to cause such extreme prolonged pain and suffering, that it is
illegal to use the protocol is to kill animals.

The United Nations Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, signed and ratified by the United States, requires that
we as a nation not only prevent torture, but prosecute those
individuals authorizing torture. However, on this Independence Day,
we must ask why former President George W. Bush is not being held
accountable for the illegal actions he authorized? We must ask why
former Vice-President Dick Cheney is not being held accountable for
the illegal actions he authorized? and we must ask why Texas Governor
Rick Perry is not being held accountable for the illegal actions he
continues to authorize? We must also question why Governor Perry is
not prosecuted for the illegal distribution and use (Codified within
Texas and Federal Law) of FDA scheduled drugs without a license.
Governor Perry may be compare to a drug pusher, but rather than
selling a little marijuana to a dieing cancer patient, he illegally
distributes three drugs which often causes torturous prolonged pain
and suffering, and he does so repetedely. In fact, on July 16th
Kenneth Mosley will be the 201st person to be executed during Perry's
tenure in office.

Yet we as a nation must ask why we have
failed to hold these "patriots" accountable for their illegal
actions? The answer seems to come easy for many of our friends and
neighbors who claim that these "patriots" were only trying to
keep us safe, or that the methods used did not raise to the level of
torture, but even if it did, who cares if the bad guys suffer a
little pain.

However, what guidance does the law
provide us in answering questions such as these? Article 1 of the
United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, defines torture as: "any act
by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person." To better understand the
personal nature of torture, one need only turn to the experiences of
a true patriot, Phillip Butler, awarded two Silver Stars, two Legion
of Merits, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Heart medals, and who also
spent almost eight years as a POW after being shot down over North
Vietnam.

Remembering those horrific years as a
POW, Butler said the during his captivity, he and his fellow POW's
"were regularly subject to torture, harassment, malnutrition,
isolation, lack of medical care, and other degradations during our
captivity. I was tortured dozens of times during my captivity. I
often thought of our Constitution and the higher purpose we served -
a purpose that helped me resist beyond what I thought I'd ever be
capable of. Ironically, we POWs received great moral and
psychological strength during our incarceration, telling each other,
'Our country is civilized and would never knowingly treat people like
this. Our country would never stoop to torture and the low level of
treatment we were experiencing at the hands of our captors.'"
Butler said, "we felt we had the moral high ground and took
great pride in being American, above such barbarity."

However on this 4^th of July,
Butler questions if we as a nation will "demand that President
Obama live up to his stated promise that 'no one is above the law?'
Will we hold the new administration to the Constitution, treaties and
other statutes prohibiting such cruel and unusual punishments and
demand accountability for the shameful legacy of torture that has
tarnished America's reputation over the last eight years?" This
patriot states that he is in "despair when [thinking] of the
personal sacrifices made by so many in U.S. wars and conflicts since
1776. If our forefathers were here to see, they would surely be angry
and disappointed. And I think they would issue a clarion call for
redress and setting an example for the world by holding accountable
the perpetrators of these crimes."

This 4th of July, I will forgo the
parades and picnics. I shall attempt to honor to those patriots, like
Phillip Butler, by joining with my fellow veterans and making our
collective voice heard, that we as a nation are better than our
recent past actions would indicate. This 4th of July I will proudly
utilize my First Amendment right to speak, protest, and demand that
the country of my birth live up to the honorable goals upon which it
was founded. We own nothing less to all those past and present
patriots who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms and human
rights which so many seem to have forgotten.