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Judging the Torture Presidency of George W. Bush
Building a case for a prosecution that likely won't happen by Nat Hentoff July 2nd, 2008 12:00 AM |
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In Standard Operating Procedure, a definitive account of what happened at Abu Ghraib published by Penguin Press, author Philip Gourevitch writes of the American interrogators who so degraded the humanity of prisoners: "Even as they sank into a routine of depravity, [the interrogators] showed by their picture taking that they did not accept it as normal. They never fully got with the program. Is it not to their credit that they were profoundly demoralized?" The much more compelling question—in view of the extent to which Abu Ghraib and other American war crimes have degraded us around the world—is whether the president and all the others at the top of the chain of command ever felt themselves in the least demoralized by the results of their orders. And, even more important, will these perpetrators ever be put on trial as a deterrent to future presidents, Defense Department and CIA heads, and their eager lawyer-accomplices in these crimes? General Ricardo Sanchez, former commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, in his recent memoir Wiser in Battle, writes that George W. Bush's 2002 memorandum—that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to our "detainees" suspected of terrorist ties—"constituted a watershed event in U.S. military history. . . . And that guidance set America on a path to torture." (Emphasis added.) Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, signed by the United States and thereby part of our law, guarantees that any detained person has the right to be free from "cruel treatment and torture; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment." This right applies whether the detainee is a prisoner of war, an "unprivileged" belligerent, a terrorist, or a noncombatant. Moreover, this right is in effect "in all circumstances" and "at any time and in any place whatsoever." (Emphasis added.) In last week's column, "The 'W.' Stands for 'War Criminal,' " I detailed the undeniable and direct involvement of George W. Bush and others at the highest levels of the executive branch in these criminal violations of the Geneva Conventions, and of our own laws. Was Bush demoralized when he first saw the disgusting Abu Ghraib photographs? He publicly expressed sorrow for the humiliation suffered by the prisoners and their families, but added, wearing his American-flag pin, that he was "equally sorry that the people who had been seeing those pictures didn't understand the true nature and heart of America." There is a hole in the soul of this faith-based commander in chief. But on what legal basis can Bush and his confederates be charged in an American court for these war crimes? It's called "command responsibility," codified for the first time as an international doctrine in the 1977 Additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions: "The fact that a breach of the Conventions . . . was committed by a subordinate does not absolve his superiors from . . . responsibility . . . if they knew, or had information which should have enabled them to conclude, in the circumstances at the time, that [the subordinate] was committing or about to commit such a breach and if they did not take all feasible measures within their power to prevent or repress the breach." Continue |
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More by Nat Hentoff
The 'W.' Stands for 'War Criminal'
The House and a shot not yet heard 'round the world Consider the Constitutions of Obama and McCain as You Choose Sides A Third Sudanese Genocide: General al-Bashir's Final Solution There were two and a half million dead in the last two Sudan genocides—and now a third is on the way Pacifism Fails in the Face of Sovereign Evil If the U.N. won't act on its own mandate, then we should use force to combat immutable evil Zimbabwe's Slow-Motion Horror Show Does a nation's sovereignty allow it to destroy its own people? |
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A frightening mosaic of unconstitutional abuses has nullified the rule of law and the right of due process under the law. Human rights violations are taking place in cities and towns across America.
People are being targeted for ruin -- financially, socially and physically -- by an organized campaign of vigilantism that some victims believe is funded and supported by multiple levels of government, perhaps using citizen "watch" and volunteer programs as a front for extra-legal harassment and persecution.
The phenomenon, which is starting to break through to the mainstream media, is commonly known as "gang stalking" and "community stalking." But that nomenclature tends to trivialize the issue.
This is a re-emergence of the monstrous methodology of the KKK, the Stazi and the Gestapo. It is mob rule seemingly coordinated and condoned by rogue elements within the power structure.
This link explains it, and contains sublinks to additional information:
http://citizensoulpower.wordpress.com/2007/09/21
Those who raise this issue find that their telecom connections are subject to surveillance, interruption and tampering. Their ability to freely communicate is severely circumscribed. Careers are ruined, reputations are slandered, and the physical well-being of targeted individuals is placed in serious jeopardy. Here is another link that explains how this is happening:
http://www.usenet-replayer.com/faq/alt.abuse.recovery.html
I am an investigative/business reporter/producer who has worked for major newspapers, TV stations and magazines. I had my own TV show in the metro New York market for six years. Perhaps not coincidentally, the show ended just as I began to realize that I was being methodically and destructively gang-stalked. It's been going on for more than four years. I have tried to seek redress by going through official channels, to no avail. It wasn't until I read and researched the many web sites on the subject that I began to realize what was happening --- and that others are being similarly afflicted.
I have contacted media outlets, but I find that there is a concerted effort to destroy my credibility, and I believe that has affected my ability to get this story told. I was part of "major media" for many years, and I can now report that the mainstream media is highly vulnerable to intimidation, manipulation and rumor-mongering. I post this message at some personal risk to myself and to my family; but I cannot remain silent and solely rely on "the system" any longer. The system isn't working.
My name is Victor Livingston and I live in Bucks County, PA. My telephone number is (215) 295-0852, and my email address is scrivener50@verizon.net. But my email is erratic and I can't rely on the privacy or even the veracity of electronic communications. I fear that my identity has been stolen and that I have been set up by rogue elements that have tolerated this extra-legal conduct.
Federal law enforcement is aware of my situation; I hold out hope that officials under the direct authority of the Justice Department are working behind the scenes to curb the abuses. I have officially requested a civil rights investigation into what has been happening to me, but to no avail. I have tried to contact my Congressman, Patrick Murphy, but those efforts have been unsuccessful.
If you are a fellow journalist, please investigate this under-the-radar abuse of power in your own community; odds are, it's going on in your own backyard.
And if you know or work with Nat Hentoff, Sy Hersh or Bob Woodward, please send them this post. In the words of John Dean, it's worse than Watergate.