The Samford Crimson

Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Opinion

There's a reason why America's "favorite vice president" hasn't left Washington yet. Yep, Dick Cheney's still hanging around, and he's still defending the reprehensible interrogation techniques that he and his Bush administration colleagues defended time and time again. As much as President Obama would like to put the past behind him, the issue of torture isn't going away any time soon.

The things we've learned recently about what exactly the previous administration allowed to take place in secret prisons and off-shore terrorist-holding facilities are disturbing, to say the least. (I'll give you a hint: it's worse than any "24" episode you've watched.) For example, we learned one high-level Al Qaeda operative, Abu Zubaydah, was waterboarded at least 83 times.

Waterboarding is the same technique ruled illegal by the Geneva Conventions and to which Japanese military officials pleaded guilty after World War II. This practice was also heavily favored by former Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, as well as the villians who carried out the Spanish inquisition.

If you saw the Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal flick last year, "Rendition," you know the exact measures that U.S. intelligence officials took when carrying suspected terrorists overseas to torture them. These officials often times used waterboarding, sleep deprivation, painful stress positions, threats of torture and death and prolonged exposure to extremes of heat, cold and noise.

The Human Rights Watch reports that in November 2004, the International Committee of the Red Cross told the U.S. government in confidential reports that its treatment of detainees has involved psychological and physical coercion that is "tantamount to torture."

While most Americans say they feel like "ralphing" after hearing these allegations of evil, Cheney continues to defend it. There is no defense for torture. Whatever information the administration hoped to gain from the use of torture was negated by a critical blow to America's moral reputation. Torture is also proven to be counterproductive. Most intelligence experts can agree that detainees will admit to anything just to prevent the pain and abuse. This could put wrongful information in the hands of intelligence officials, which wastes time and resources.

President Obama has shown mixed reactions to these revelations. On one hand, he said he'd like to focus on seemingly more pertinent issues like the economy, healthcare and immigration. On the other hand, he has people within his administration, human rights groups and the media calling for accountability of those in the U.S. government who authorized torture.

I would suggest to the President that torture is indeed a pertinent issue. True foreign policy reform begins with an assessment of past wrongdoings. America must also take preventative measures against a new generation of anti-American sentiment. The world is watching and waiting to see just how much change, exactly, the American government is willing to embrace. The new administration must address torture as an illegal and unaccepted practice and investigate those who once made it acceptable.

The President should establish an independent, non-partisan commission to investigate these allegations of torture within the U.S. government. This could accomplish many things, such as rebuilding America's global image, improving counterterrorism methods and building a national consensus against the use of torture. After all, this isn't a political issue; it's a moral issue.

It's clear that everyone wants to move past the days of the Bush administration, but sometimes a nation cannot move forward until it purges a dark chapter of its past. This is one of those moments.

Ben Hankins is a junior journalism major from Chickamauga, Ga. He can be reached at bahankin@samford.edu.

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