Tell Them Torture?s Not Right for Us

[chelaque liberal]

Tell Them Torture?s Not Right for Us

by Don Williams



Al-Libi. Al-Libi. Al-Libi.

It isn?t that hard to say. Try it.

Then, if you oppose torture, shout that name from the rooftops. It?s important.

Our government forced a man by that name to tell a pack of lies that brought about the deaths of tens of thousands in Iraq. Ask your Congressmen and media to look into it. For al-Libi is living proof that torture and other degrading practices only make things worse.

George W. Bush and company bombed and invaded Iraq based in large part on lies told by Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi. Why are opponents of torture so lame, so slow, in making this point?

Is it because they--like our leadership--were taken in by Al-Libi?s lies and would rather gloss over that sad fact of history than to make it part of their argument against the President?s proposed torture and detainment bill debated this week in Congress? Is it because they?ve become so fearful of being called disloyal or soft on terrorism? Whatever fig leaf they?re hiding behind, the record is clear that al-Libi was under custody of U.S. secret forces in 2001 when the CIA blindfolded him, duct-taped him, loaded him onto an airplane, told him they planned to rape his mother while he was away, then flew him off to Egypt.

Interrogators in a secret hell-hole prison there asked al-Libi none too gently to ?admit? that Saddam Hussein was teaching al-Qaeda to make chemical and biological weapons. According to The New Yorker, The New York Times, Newsweek and others, Al-Libi gave them what they wanted. Later he recanted, and said he told the lies to end the pain of torture. A Republican dominated Senate Intelligence committee has confirmed al-Libi?s later statements that no formal ties existed between Saddam and al-Qaeda, and further reported that, far from working together to attack U.S. interests, Saddam and bin Laden regarded each other as enemies. Still, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and others in ?the Iraq group?--a team set up inside the White House in 2002 to sell America on the idea of invading Iraq--made al-Libi?s lies a centerpiece of their case. Just how aware Bush was that he based his war on a pack of lies should be looked into.




more: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/opinion_columnists/article/0,1406,KNS_364_5028205,00.html


Please consider voting your support for this rare and valuable Eastern Tn columnist at the above link.

[thingfisher]

1. TORTURE = CONFESSION

Lets cut to the chase on this whole torture thing - the purpose of torture is not to get information but to extract CONFESSIONS!
That's why this is so scary. In a world where a "free society" can be saddled with acceptance of torture as a legitimate tool of government in order to "protect" its citizens from danger, can any one feel safe?
Now that any citizen can be detained without trial and subjected to torture if suspected of supporting terror should the average joe "with nothing to hide" feel relieved that the government has finally been given the tools to "gitter dun!" I don't think so.
Just ask Al-libi. All of us will confess to anything under torture and once we confess, then what? Retract? Once we accept torture as a legitimate tool of counter-terrorism we guarantee that that tool will be used for other purposes.
IT CAN HAPPEN HERE! IT IS HAPPENING HERE! THE TORTURE NEVER STOPS!

[chelaque liberal]

2. Well stated.

Welcome to DU. It has become an important part of my daily life.

[thingfisher]

3. Thanks for the welcome

DU is a kind of therapy, no? Keeps you from feeling like a ship wreck victim floating alone on the ocean. There's lots of company out here on the bounding main.