Guest Column: Holding Our Government Accountable

Brian J. Trautman
iBerkshires
11:41PM / Sunday, April 19, 2009

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Obama must prosecute Bush-era officials for war crimes

Owing to the pressures of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Obama administration, this week the American public was finally granted access to Bush-era memos that revealed torture was both sanctioned and authorized by Bush officials and executed by members of the CIA.

The memos detailed how a variety of torture techniques were employed to interrogate terror suspects, to include long durations of forced nakedness, stress positions, wall standing, and exposure to cold. Other interrogation techniques included depriving prisoners of solid food, physical assault, sleep deprivation, prolonged shackling, waterboarding, cramped confinement with insects, and threats to family.

With the release of these memos, ostensibly President Obama was keeping to a campaign promise of openness and transparency. However, we also learned this week that to move the nation forward from what he considered "a dark and painful chapter in our history” (The Huffington Post, April 16, 2009), President Obama believes we should merely "reflect" on the how and why of decisions and processes that led to torture and not pursue legal action, claiming that such a move would correspond to "retribution," and therefore unhealthy and unconstructive.

This position is simply wrong and sets a dangerous precedent. Enforcing our federal and international laws is not retributive in nature, but rather it is a course of action that would hold to account those who intentionally departed from our principles and values as human beings and from our laws as a nation and global community. Any failure to at least actively investigate the alleged violations of federal law and international treaties by Bush-era officials is in effect a crime in and of itself — obstruction of justice.

Also this week, President Obama assured CIA operatives who conducted authorized torture that they would not be prosecuted because they were following orders, which were based on legal advice received from the Bush administration Department of Justice (DOJ). Mr. Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, even offered legal help to these agents should they face legal challenges: Holder said, "It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department" (AlterNet, April 16, 2009). This policy defends the all-too-familiar flawed logic and proverbial excuse, "I was just following orders." Legal authorization does not, and will never, justify crimes against humanity, in this case torture. The men and women who carried out torture must be prosecuted too, regardless of their justification. 

The CIA memos authorizing torture are an embarrassment to our nation. The misconduct and corrupt actions of the Bush administration must be prosecuted. Torture is never justifiable. The Obama administration must seek justice to illustrate to the world that the U.S. condemns and will not tolerate torture. No passes must be permitted when it comes to human-rights violations and war crimes. Presidents, and all political leaders, past and present, must be held accountable for violations of federal and international law. It is the obligation of our elected officials to seek justice in all cases.

Our nation held President Nixon accountable for the Watergate scandal, at least in principle, which, whether we use a moral or legal compass, does not compare in the slightest to torture, a crime against humanity and international war crime. Whether politically unpopular or whether viewed as an inopportune time given the current global economic crisis and other domestic and global issues, President Obama has a responsibility to act on behalf of justice and the people of the world by investigating and prosecuting torture. 

What are the implications for the future of the United States, especially in terms of public faith, the rule of law, and global trust and respect, if the Obama administration refuses to investigate and prosecute cases of torture? Our children and grandchildren will inquire one day as to why we did not prosecute these crimes, and we will be forced to answer them, hopefully with the truth. If the lessons of history are to be learned, political crimes, particularly war crimes, must not be overlooked, or else we risk a repeat of such behavior at some future point, perhaps in an amplified form (e.g. the rise of Nazi Germany between World War I and World War II). 

As a citizen concerned about the very real possibility of Bush officials escaping prosecution, I have contacted the Obama administration and the 111th Congress to urge them to investigate Bush-era officials. I request my fellow citizens do the same. Those who were directly and indirectly responsible for deciding that acts of torture were justifiable must not be absolved of these crimes. If not to our children and grandchildren, we at least owe it to the men and women who currently serve and those who have fought and died so that America and the world could enjoy the principles and values of freedom, human rights, and democracy.

To those who argue that torture is effective and works, hence it contributes to national security, I reply that torture is always immoral and always illegal, regardless of the rationalization behind it. And if you are not convinced by moral or legal justifications, consider the fact that torture has been proven ineffective as an intelligence-gathering tool (through interviews conducted with counterterrorism officials we have learned that torture does not work: intelligence of a high-value nature is more accurate, reliable, and is obtained with greater ease through a process of relationship building and rapport with suspects — Newsweek, 2006; Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2009).

If the opinions and facts shared in this letter regarding both Bush-era crimes and the Obama administration's position on prosecution of Bush officials are of concern to you, I encourage you to join me at Berkshire Community College this Monday, April 20, at 7 p.m. for a talk by David Swanson, co-founder of After Downing Street, and workers' rights attorney Valeria A. Gheorghiu.

Brian J. Trautman is on the faculty of the Peace and World Order Studies program at Berkshire Community College and an active member of Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice.