Then Jesus said to him: “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Matthew 26:52
The
Democrats should have realized when they so frequently and falsely
accused the Republican government of “torture!” that when they took
over the government, they would have to face the allegation also.
Career
Intelligence officers, as Ms. Pelosi is slowly learning, are
non-partisan. They fight our enemies no matter whose name is on the
White House mailbox, and they don’t lie to Congress, or torture people.
How
ironic that the “torture!” allegation, designed by Democrats as
campaign rhetoric to make Republicans look bad, is now making Democrats
look worse. Live by the sword…
For
several years the Democrats, aided by media, did make Republicans look
bad with the “torture!” cry. The media never bothered to print the
real story from the perspective of the President and the men and women
of our Intelligence Services who were charged with interrogating the
bad guys.
The
real story was that the Bush Administration, going all the way back to
the Gonzalez memo, was not asking for legal opinions on whether various
techniques were torture so that they would be allowed to torture. They
were asking for legal clarification to make sure they didn’t torture.
To
understand the difference, one must consider the vagary, the
uncertainty, of what is or is not “torture” as defined by International
Law.
How
easy it would be if there were two lists of interrogation techniques,
one headed “These Things Are Torture” and the other headed “These
Things Are Not Torture.”
Unfortunately,
no such lists exist. Instead, the Geneva Conventions give an
ambiguous, uncertain definition of torture, without even an attempt to
state “These techniques are torture” or “These techniques are not
torture.” The same is true of United Nations Conventions.
President
Bush tried his best to bring some clarity to the definition of what
interrogations are and are not torture. Why did he bother? Well, for
a very important reason.
The
more vague a law is, the better chance a prosecutor has of convincing a
jury that a whole wide range of behaviors are covered by it. That’s
why vague laws are bad laws – because no one really knows how to follow
them.
For
instance, let’s use an example a usually vague law that is found in
municipalities all over America. Assume a law says, “Thou shall not be
noisy after 10:00 pm.” Would you really know how to follow it? What’s
“noisy?” Ten decibels? Twenty-five decibels? Fifty decibels?
Worse
than you not knowing how to follow it, the vagueness gives the
prosecutor a very wide berth to convict you, because the jury is going
to be allowed to pick what is noisy – five decibels, twenty-five
decibels or fifty. Three different juries can say three different
things and all be right.
That
allows prejudices to enter the courtroom. Don’t like the defendant?
Let’s convict him using a ten-decibel standard for noise. Defendant
seems like a swell guy? Let him off the hook under a fifty-decibel
standard.
Assume
instead a law that says, “Thou shall not be louder than 25 decibels
after 10:00 pm.” You will know how to follow it, and a jury will have
no room for prejudice in their verdict – it’s either 25 decibels or it
isn’t. In criminal law vagueness is bad, specificity is good.
Unfortunately,
the Geneva and UN Conventions are as vague as a local noise ordinance
about what is torture. The following is the definition from Geneva,
which you will notice lists no interrogation techniques - not water
boarding or putting a caterpillar in a terrorists’ cell to scare him:
(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) Taking of hostages;
(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
(d)
The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording
all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by
civilized peoples.
(By the way the above applies to "High Contracting Parties" to the Geneva Conventions, which al-Qaeda is not).
Here is how the UN defines torture:
“…the
term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such
purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a
confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed
or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or
a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,
when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person
acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering
arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”
(By the way, al-Qaeda is not a member of the UN, so they won’t follow the Convention).
Neither
Convention lists water boarding or any other interrogation technique.
However, Geneva makes “degrading” treatment torture and the UN says
“intimidation” is torture.
That
means a jury can, like Democrats did, say that “torture!” can be as
little as calling someone a name, because it’s “degrading” (you dirty
dog) or telling him tomorrow he may be punished, because it’s
“intimidation.”
President
Bush understood that if our military members, from Generals on down
ever found themselves before one of these Courts, they could be
convicted of “torture!” even if they didn’t do anything wrong.
If
you think that could never happen, consider that Spain, a NATO ally, is
trying to indict six members of the Bush Administration and Dick Cheney
was indicted by a Court – in Texas.
Imagine
some Kangaroo International Court consisting of juries of
Islamo-fascists trying our military men. That’s exactly why President
Bush wouldn’t join the International Criminal Court, and neither will
President Obama.
The
allegation of “torture!” was never a real issue. It was a campaign
tool for the Democrats. So thirsty for a taste of White House water
were Democrats that they did not care if an allegation of “torture!” –
false as it was – would harm the President. So power hungry were
Democrats that they did not care if the allegation of “torture!” would
cause others to harm our troops in retribution.
Now Democrats have the burden of interrogating the bad guys and securing our military. So now their rhetoric is changing.
They
don’t want to get caught in the campaign misrepresentations they made
about Republicans, lest they find themselves before a Kangaroo Court.
That’s why at his last presser, President Obama refused to say when
asked that the Bush Administration violated International Laws against
torture. He would only say they violated “our values.” That’s why he
wouldn’t release the interrogation photos – to avoid an allegation that
the treatment was “degrading” or “intimidating” and therefore
“torture!”
Nancy Pelosi would be wise to finally admit the truth that President Obama is finally admitting - America never tortured.