A reader writes:
All the new torture scenarios are starting to scare me. At this point they all still deal with the 'other' like a terrorist, drug dealer or a gang member (Padilla). But there is another scenario that goes through my head and hits close to home. Here is how it goes:
My little brother is currently stationed in Iraq with the US Army. (This is true)
My little brother has had a support role for CIA intel units (true) but is not an officer (true)
My little brother was stationed at Ft Hood, where a terrorist attack by a soldier has already occurred (true)While at Ft Hood, mostly because he was bored, my little brother attends classes on the Koran. (true)
Now the scenario:
One of the soldiers in my little brother's unit, lets call him Glenn, is actually working for the enemy and attacks and kills some fellow soldiers. Glenn is caught and there are concerns he knows of more attacks. They bring in a CIA interrogation unit that is known to torture suspected terrorists. During torture, to tell the interrogators what they want to hear, Glenn informs on my little brother, who is innocent. He says they were buddies and they went to Koran classes together and they talked about blowing things up. My little brother calls home scared – he is confined to base and has been ordered to report to the interrogation unit in 2 hours and he knows he will be tortured.
What do I tell him? That torture is an important tool in the GWOT and so he should take it like a man? That he should run for it? What the hell do I tell him?
I don't feel too far away from this scenario when I hear/read these folks talk. It has the ticking time bomb. The known enemy. Far away from US soil. The expendable private. Scary shit. I wonder how many of the pro-torture folks have expendable privates for little brothers in a combat theater.
The GOP rule is that anyone the president suspects might be an enemy combatant can be tortured. Of course that can mean a US citizen, as in Padilla, or a US soldier. And the president will never be wrong in his suspicions because he can always torture until the victim confesses and proves the torture justified. It's a wonderful little circle if you worship the power of the government over the individual, which is what contemporary conservatism has come to mean.
The Dish 