Torture by U.S. Military - Just business as usual?

“We do not torture.” Pres. George W. Bush, November 2005

"…as a matter of U.S. policy" U.S. military are prohibited from torture. Condoleeza Rice, December 2005

But we do torture. Apparently, we torture as a matter of U.S. policy. Apparently, it’s standard operating procedure, as is evident from the testimony in the Colorado military trial of Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr., whose business-as-usual torture of an Iraqi prisoner resulted in the prisoners’ death. The most stunning thing about the trial is that just one individual is on trial for a murder while all the others who engaged in, planned or ordered the torture that eventually led to the prisoner’s death — all the way up the line to the executive branch — are viewed as having done no wrong. Read this:

>> … their star witness, Williams, took the stand and described how the sleeping-bag technique was no more extreme than many other interrogation techniques he had witnessed.

Williams also said he walked away from the eight to 10 "spooks" as they started to clobber Mowhoush with rubber hoses two days before the general died. Williams admitted to hearing screams after he left…

When Welshofer invited Williams to be part of the eventually fatal interrogation of Mowhoush, Williams agreed, but said he had to get a cup of coffee first. <<


On an online bulletin board called rightwingnews.com I read several messages mocking the notion that the United States military is engaged in torture. Participants reassured themselves those who condemn “interrogation techniques” are just getting all hysterical, showing themselves to be wimps at best, jihadist-sympathizers at worst.

What have we become that some of our fellow citizens ridicule others for saying that torture is wrong?

I believe that some of us are in deep denial, knowing that torture is one of the worst possible wrongs, that it turns the torturers and those who condone it into monsters. But instead of saying, stop, they re-define the term. There. All better now. We’re not “torturing” we’re merely “waterboarding” or using other “interrogation techniques.”

Others come right out and say that torture is necessary to have as an option, and then list a bunch of what-if scenarios.

What few seem to want to face is that torture is now just part of the U.S. military repertoire. No “what-ifs?” needed. Torturers are us. On a regular basis. It’s no good to say that Saddam was worse, that he killed more, tortured more. Is this the only comparison by which we can still feel like decent human beings? Do we really think we can defend the morality of our society by comparing numbers of torture victims? Degrees of damage inflicted? Is this how we want to judge ourselves?