Bush & Chaney Should Be Behind Bars

Former President of the United States, George W. Bush, and his Vice President, Dick Chaney, are criminals of the worst sort. They, along with their CIA operatives, should both be paying the price for their numerous crimes behind bars.

That’s not to say that Bush, Chaney and their government CIA thugs should be tortured. Even those criminals convicted of the most heinous of crimes should not be tortured. The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution forbids torture whether before or after a conviction of crime: “Amendment VIII -- Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

At a minimum, George Bush and Dick Chaney violated the United States Constitution by authorizing the CIA to torture suspected terrorist detainees. Had any of these detainees actually been convicted of terrorism the American Constitution and laws would forbid any form of torture as a means of punishment. Torture by definition is cruel and unusual punishment.

Bush and Chaney authorized torture before trial – a means of punishment which is forbidden even after a trial and conviction of crime. In the aftermath of the 9/11/01 terror attack they authorized and now contend that it was perfectly proper and lawful for their government CIA henchmen to brutally torture captured suspected terrorist detainees.

Today, in fact, a totally defiant and smirking Dick Chaney adamantly insisted to Fox News anchor, Bret Baier, that if given the chance he would do it exactly the same way all over again.  

Bush and Chaney specifically authorized the CIA "to do whatever it takes" to prevent another attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001. Whatever it takes included subjecting the prisoners to water boarding sessions, weeks of sleep deprivation, slapping and slamming them against walls, confining them to small boxes, keeping them isolated for prolonged periods and threatening them with death.

CIA personnel, aided by two outside contractors, authorized by Bush and Chaney, decided to initiate a program of indefinite secret detention and the use of brutal interrogation techniques in violation of U.S. law, treaty obligations, and our values, concludes a U.S. Senate report released this week. “... the conditions of confinement and the use of authorized and unauthorized interrogation and conditioning techniques were cruel, inhuman, and degrading... the evidence of this is overwhelming and incontrovertible,” it concludes.

Some of the captives received "rectal rehydration," a form of feeding through the rectum. Others got "ice baths." CIA thugs threatened harm to their children, sexual abuse to their mothers, or slitting the throat of their loved ones. Internal CIA records describe the water boarding of Khalid Shaykh Mohammad, for example, as evolving into a "series of near drownings.

”The water boarding technique was physically harmful, inducing convulsions and vomiting. Abu Zubaydah became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth." The CIA instructed personnel that his interrogation would take "precedence" over his medical care, resulting in the deterioration of a bullet wound incurred during his capture.

Sleep deprivation involved keeping detainees awake for up to 180 hours, usually standing or in stress positions, at times with their hands shackled above their heads. At least five detainees experienced disturbing hallucinations during prolonged sleep deprivation and, in at least two of those cases, the CIA nonetheless continued the sleep deprivation. One interrogator told another detainee that he would never go to court, because "we can never let the world know what I have done to you."

The chief of interrogations described one facility as a "dungeon." Another senior CIA officer admitted that the facility was itself an enhanced interrogation technique. Detainees were kept in complete darkness and constantly shackled in isolated cells with loud noise or music and only a bucket to use for human waste. One detainee died from the severe cold conditions while shackled nude in his cell.

Prisoners were walked around naked or shackled with their hands above their heads for extended periods of time. Some were subjected to a "rough takedown," in which approximately five CIA goons would scream at and drag them outside of his cell, cut his clothes off, and secure him with Mylar tape. The victim would then be hooded and dragged up and down a long corridor while being slapped and punched.

“Prior to the initiation of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program and throughout the life of the program, the legal justifications for the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques relied on the CIA's claim that the techniques were necessary to save lives,” concludes the report. The report also concludes that the torture program was “ineffective” for that purpose.

I say that even if the torture scheme did save some lives, (a dubious claim at best), still it could never be justified under any circumstances. If the law justifies torture if the infliction of torture can save lives, then all criminal suspects can be tortured as a means of saving lives. If the government can find excuses to torture suspected terrorists it can just as well find excuses to torture any suspect.

They flouted the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America. They tortured human beings, and for that reason alone...

Bush & Chaney Should Be Behind Bars