America's Shame: CIA Torture Scandal

Shame For You, America!

Since the Second World War, America has treated the rest of the world to stage shows, otherwise known as political scandals. Watergate, Irangate, Clintongate and Abu Ghraib have all filled our television screens and used a Brazilian rainforest of newsprint. Until now, we have seen some senior politicians and officials squirm when their wrongdoings were made public. Whilst the public was appalled by what was disclosed, it was individuals who were responsible.

However, the CIA torture scandal is different. Here we have one of America’s major institutions, the Central Intelligence Agency, in the firing line. So far no CIA names have been named but it surely cannot be long before the Justice Department lays evidence before a Grand Jury.

There has been much praise for the Senate Intelligence Committee and its decision to publish its findings but there has been criticism in equal measure. Senior Republicans are outraged that the disclosures might give help and comfort to the enemy and that retaliation activity will increase. Surely, none of America’s allies will break their treaties and no enemies of the US will cease their actions as a result. These Republicans protest too much. My guess is that politically they fear the buck will end with them.

Likewise, the President has been criticised for doing nothing during the past six years to disclose wrongdoings. Six years ago, he made his position clear. The administration would look forward, not back, there would be no Truth and Reconciliation Commission but there would be an end to torture by his government.

“Torture” is the right word to use, not the whitewash phrase, “enhanced questioning.” Also, “rendition” is just a spin on the word for “kidnapping.” If a private citizen of America or Great Britain committed such offences, he or she would be prosecuted and convicted. Why should any government that proclaims it is a nation of laws regard itself as immune?

I have heard arguments approving torture on the basis that the information obtained could save lives. The Senate Report made it clear beyond argument that such a defence was not feasible as there was no evidence to support the theory. I also am aware that George W Bush’s Attorney General approved a legal opinion that the “enhanced questions” methods used by the Americans did not amount to torture. Well, what if a court were to have him water-boarded? Would he change his mind?

My point is that torture and kidnapping is illegal and a criminal offence in any Western democracy. Governments are guilty of a crime if they engage in such practices. Further, the Report by the Senate is good news for any democracy being transparent and owning up to serious offences. There is an old saying, “air is the best disinfectant.”

Clearly, the blame for the offences lies within the upper echelons of the CIA. These people should face prosecution. If those who made the decisions have retired, they are no less culpable. But I am sure the guilty people are elsewhere too. If you look at the other scandals mentioned in the first paragraph, excluding Clintongate, where there were no guilty parties, you will find the perpetrators extended beyond the prime offenders.

In Watergate, senior Nixon advisers were involved before the event, including Senior Domestic Adviser John Erlichman and Attorney General John Mitchell. In Irangate, the National Security Agency Director Robert McFarlane and Oliver North of the National Security Council were caught out, as was the President Ronald Reagan.

As for the present scandal, I cannot believe the orders given by the CIA after 9/11 did not have White House approval. Let us not forget what the White House did to CIA operative Valerie Plame after her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, exposed the falsity of the claims by the Bush administration that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. By outing Plame, the lives of many in the Middle East were threatened. It was like an episode of Homeland.

The Plame affair ended with the prosecution of Scooter Libby, Vice-President Cheney’s chief of staff. Libby received a jail sentence but was soon pardoned by Bush. The stink over the affair and the White House involvement leads me to wonder to what extent the Bush administration was involved in endemic use of torture and kidnap after 9/11. Evidence from previous political scandals leads me to believe the buck does not stop with the CIA. I await seeing how Obama’s Justice Department follows leads and investigates the wrongdoers. Furthermore, I am keen to see the extent to which the British government may have dirty hands.

Whatever the outcome, how will the West persuade the rest of the world that we live with freedom and justice if torture and kidnapping form part of government weaponry? I look for the day when all those involved in these outrages are brought to justice, both those who committed the offences and those who ordered them. Shame on them.