There should, in my mind, be no debate about prosecutions for war crimes. Seriously, can you imagine the US opposing such prosecutions if they were in a foreign country? Besides, the US’ clear international and domestic legal obligations admit of no exception for the prosecution of those credibly accused of torture - let alone of those, like Cheney, who have openly bragged about it. It specifically bars any exception in the case of national emergency. Not to prosecute because of such an emergency is therefore to end the Geneva Conventions - which is what Obama has effectively done. He must not be let off the hook for that fateful step - and what it does to the core meaning of the United States. From now on, the US is a human rights violator of the first order under international law, a rogue state that has explicitly tortured innocent people and never held anyone legally responsible. I know that sounds terribly harsh. But how is it untrue? And to refuse to prosecute war crimes is to condone war crimes.
I’ve been a strong supporter of Barack Obama since Day One, and while I haven’t always been pleased with the results stemming from occasionally weak and indifferent leadership, overall I believe his Presidency to be a success. This is especially true when you consider the epic obstructionism and intractable Republican blocking tactics over virtually anything and everything the Obama Administration has tried to accomplish.
Never during this President’s almost six years in office have I been anywhere near as disappointed as I am about his weak, ineffectual response to evidence of torture conducted by the CIA in contravention of American law and several treaty obligations. As Andrew Sullivan says, “Obama’s weakness and vacillation on the question of torture has done great damage.”
The torture report released on Tuesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee doesn’t contain information that wasn’t already widely known…and therein lies the problem. This President and his administration have known about the CIA’s illegal torture program from virtually the moment they took over the White House…AND THEY’VE DONE NOTHING ABOUT IT. There’s no defensible legal or moral reason why every single person responsible for and involved in the conduct of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (let’s just call it what it is- torture) shouldn’t be sitting in the Hague awaiting trial on war crimes charges. I’m talking about everyone from those who conducted torture to former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Obama Administration’s decision not to pursue criminal charges makes them complicit in what can only be described as complete and utter moral vacancy. That no one is being called to account for engaging in illegal, immoral, and unauthorized human rights abuses can only cement the world’s view that America is a country that talks the talk but fails to walk the walk.
[T]he fact that we are the most powerful country on earth makes this about much more than just us. It casts a dark and long shadow over humanity. It makes torture everywhere more likely, and more pervasive. It legitimizes evil. It removes from us any moral standing when it comes to Americans being tortured by these very same techniques - as they already have been in Syria, and as they will be in the future. When an American prisoner is tortured by an enemy power in the future, we will have no grounds to complain. Can we just face up to that instead of engaging in so much avoidance and denial? We didn’t just break Iraq; we broke the very structure of basic human rights that this country fought two world wars to establish.
The worst part of admitting that America does torture is the recognition that we can no longer maintain the delusion that we occupy the moral high ground. Pax Americana is no more or less moral than thugs like Saddam Hussein, whom we help execute in part because of his mistreatment and murder of his fellow countrymen.
We would rightly demand that foreigners engaged in torturing Americans be held accountable for their actions. The rest of the world has every right to expect the same from us. No double standards should accrue to us as Americans simply because of who we are. Illegal and immoral actions are beyond the pale regardless of the passport the perpetrator carries. Until those responsible- directly and indirectly, whether participants or enablers- are called to account for violations of American and international law as well as numerous treaty obligations, America will enjoy- and deserve- no credibility.
The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report revealed that the CIA tortured detainees and lied about it. It’s time that those responsible and those who knew about the program and did nothing to stop it be called to account for their war crimes…because that’s exactly what they are.
America can (and should) have no hope of being considered a full member of the international community until it takes the steps necessary to demonstrate that those involved in war crimes will not escape punishment. This means the Obama Administration needs to collectively grow a pair and do the right thing.
WE DESERVE BETTER. And so does the rest of the world.
