True Military Honor

As the torture of detainees by our military has been exposed over the past two years, Americans proud of our honorable military history have raised their voices against such abuse. Others, in defense of inhumane tactics, were quick to accuse us of smearing the military.

Then, it became clear that the instructions to abuse detainees came directly from the White House.

Still, when a United States Senator raised his voice against abusive tactics by our military, he was shouted down by the right wing noise machine for his inartful choice of words. And the right wing continues to excuse and condone the abuse, because it was directed by their cherished far-right president.

Today, I can hardly overemphasize my pride in the United States Military. When the White House was requesting legal justification for torturing detainees, the Justice Department was more than willing to get right to work parsing words and talking about pain that accompanies organ failure. On the other hand, the military attorneys objected. Read these excerpts from memos prepared by attorneys in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, and be proud:

Several of the more extreme interrogation techniques, on their face, amount to violations of domestic criminal law and the UCMJ (e.g., assault). Applying the more extreme techniques during the interrogation of detainees places the interrogators and the chain of command at risk of criminal accusations domestically.

Treating OEF detainees inconsistently with the Conventions arguably "lowers the bar" for the treatment of U.S. POWs in future conflicts. Even where nations agree with the President's status determination, many would view the more extreme interrogation techniques as violative of other international law (other treaties or customary international law) and perhaps violative of their own domestic law.

Finally, the use of the more extreme interrogation techniques simply is not how the U.S. armed forces have operated in recent history. We have taken the legal and Moral (ht: arm) "high-road" in the conduct of our military operations regardless of how others may operate. Our forces are trained in this legal and moral mindset beginning the day they enter active duty. It should be noted that law of armed conflict and code of conduct training have been mandated by Congress and emphasized since the Viet Nam conflict when our POWs were subjected to torture by their captors. We need to consider the overall impact of approving extreme interrogation techniques as giving official approval and legal sanction to the application of interrogation techniques that U.S. forces have consistently been trained are unlawful.

More broadly, while we may have found a unique situation in GTMO where the protections of the Geneva Conventions, U.S. statutes, and even the Constitution do not apply, will the American people find we have missed the forest for the trees by condoning practices that, while technically legal, are inconsistent with our most fundamental values? How would such perceptions affect our ability to prosecute the Global War on Terrorism?

We nonetheless recommend that the Working Group product accurately portray the services' concerns that the authorization of aggressive counter-resistance techniques by servicemembers will adversely impact the following:

a. Treatment of U.S. Servicemembers by Captors and compliance with International Law.

b. Criminal and Civil Liability of DOD Military and Civilian Personnel in Domestic, Foreign, and International Forums.

c. U.S. and International Public Support and Respect of U.S. Armed Forces.

d. Pride, Discipline, and Self-Respect within the U.S. Armed Forces.

e. Human Intelligence Exploitation and Surrender of Foreign Enemy Forces, and Cooperation and Support of Friendly Nations.

The simple decency of these military men seems profound when compared to the machinations of our Commander in Chief. Americans can now be sure: like all decent Americans, the members of our Armed Services did not support torture. They were merely following orders.

So, to sum up:

(1) Bush requests legal justification for torture of detainees;

(2) Justice Department gladly obliges;

(3) Military objects, says torture is against American values;

(4) Bush goes with Justice Department;

(5) Torture is ordered;

(6) Decent Americans object to torture, says it is against American values;

(7) Right wingers claim decent Americans are attacking the military.

My friends, this is a dark, dark chapter in the history of the Republican party.

More here.