| Davina's Delicacies |
| A Return to Civilization - McCain's Anti-Torture Amendment |
| by Davina Blair |
| Congress accepts the McCain Provision on torture, while Bush and Cheney want to bring back the rack. |
No one in Congress knows better than Senator John McCain what it is like to suffer under the all-too-human ill treatment of an enemy jailer. During the Vietnam War, McCain subjected for several agonizing years to severe physical and mental pain. Luckily, he was released as a national hero, and became a leading senator best known for rooting corruption out of politics. However, he never forgot what he endured.
In a move that would push our evolution into a more civilized and dignified society, McCain introduced an an amendment that was attached to both the defense spending bill and the defense authorization measure bill to ban the torture of suspected terrorists. Personally, I was appalled to hear tales of suspects flown out to foreign countries and tortured. Why did our government become the perpetrators of the same kind of vile abuse that justified Saddam Hussein’s removal? The answers circulating through the world media are as numerous as so many species of insects, but it all boils down to two things: oil and American supremacy.
Every day, more people become aware of how far we departed from the ideal of justice, and politicians are starting to listen to the whispers of discontent. Luckily for the citizens of Earth, Congress passed the provision and our armed forces are put on notice to comply with international law concerning the rights of prisoners. In the long run, taking a stand against torture would serve our interests in future wars when the rest of the world follows our example.
On the other side of the table, our President and Vice-President wanted to trash the provision outright, holding out that the agony of “potential” terrorists is for a noble cause . Political pressure eventually led to an attempted compromise, which would grant immunity to CIA interrogators. That plan failed miserably. According to CNN:
“The administration has been seeking to add language that would offer some protection from prosecution for interrogators accused of violating the provision. The former prisoner of war in Vietnam says he won't agree to changes that would undermine the provisions, which he argues are needed to clarify current anti-torture laws in light of abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and allegations of misconduct by U.S. troops at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.” The history of torture is as old as humanity itself. A nontrivial sadistic portion of the population created several methods to extract as much pain as possible out of a sentient being without killing it. This form of punishment was historically used against an enemy so vile, a quick death was too honorable. In recent years, modern states and serial killers got into it for fun and profit. Drawing and quartering, impaling, thumbscrews, the rack, Chinese water torture, and electric shocks to the genitals are only a few examples of the vast array of misery and mayhem one human can unleash upon another.
In Abu Ghraib, some deviant members of our military forced detainees to perform sexual acts with each other and compelled them to strip and stand on boxes with the threat of death by electrocution. To such devout Muslims, engaging in degrading sexual acts was worse than genital electrocution and our government knew it, and used it with impunity until the photos were leaked to the media.
Discussions prompting change in world and local politics usually give rise to a , “It’s the year x, isn’t it time we became more enlightened, that is, more peaceful and respectful of life and liberty?” A minuscule class of the enlightened has always existed, however, they usually rejected political power in favor of a simple life of freedom. Socrates, Thoreau and Lao Tzu come to mind as examples of this. While world enlightenment is a long way in coming, at least this country is making a move to stop such monstrous cruelty by affirming the values of honor and justice. |
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