Torture, to prosecute or not

It looks like many people want someone to be punished for the torture done by U.S. employees. Others believe our military/government employees were just following orders. Others believe the end justifies the means, i.e. if, and there is the big 'if', you save lives then torture is justified.

I hope those who want a prosecution for torture want it for justice and not for political reasons. Unfortunately, I believe politics too often overrides justice.

By the ends justifies the means argument, the police should be allowed to torture a suspected serial killer, or anyone they suspect is plotting to kill.

Why do we not allow our police to torture? It may be because we think we could be tortured for something we are not guilty of.

The CIA officials say they were just defending the country. Does that mean it would be permissible for an Arab group to torture American soldiers who invaded and occupied their country. The Arabs would say they were just defending their country? What do you think the opinions of U.S. citizens would be if one of their soldiers was water boarded 183 times?

The FBI just named Daniel Andreas San Diego, a computer specialist, as one of the top 10 terrorists wanted by the FBI. "San Diego joins the ranks of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda operatives on the list, which is usually reserved for alleged international terrorists."

If the FBI catches Daniel San Diego, will they be justified in torturing him to find out who else is in his organization? Daniel is a terrorist, which means to terrorize. How many people has he terrorized? Is terrorist just another name for a criminal, or can we say anyone who terrorizes us is a terrorist. I can hear a student saying, "Mommy, Mr. Smith terrorized me today. "Don't worry dear," said Mommy, "I'll have him water boarded".

The President and the Democratic Congress wishes the issue would go away. They are afraid some powerful democrats may be shown to have been complicit in the madness of the crowd after 9/11. If the congress was briefed on the "interrogation techniques" then who are we going to prosecute? Will we prosecute the whole country? Is a democracy so good that it is allowed to do evil in the interest of the greater good?

Remember the quest for revenge after 9/11. We were waving the flag, and waived what it stood for in our desire for blood. The 9/11 hijackers were all dead so we needed public hangings to rid us of our wrath, much like the crowds of the French Revolution. Crowds go crazy quickly, and come to their senses, slowly, one at a time. We are now coming to our senses.

Members of the government are reluctant to investigate and prosecute past policies because they know they will be out of office someday and their past policies might be prosecuted.

President Obama would face a rebellious CIA, Secret Service, NSA, and military if he prosecutes. One man, even the president, must be careful which government employees he offends.

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." H. L. Mencken

I think Mencken meant that if people want a government that tortures, they deserve that government, good and hard.

The Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971 showed one third of guards in the experiment displayed sadistic tendencies.

Stanley Milgram's experiment in 1963 showed ordinary people can do cruel things when obeying authority, authority they trust.

People do what it takes to survive and prosper. If they are in an evil society they will participate in evil. If they are in a good society they will participate in goodness. What kind of society we live in, a good society or an evil society, depends on us. There cannot be one standard for us and one standard for the government employees. We must demand that our society, and the government employees who represent our society, uphold the standards of a society that represents the best in humans, not the worst.

A tribal elder was telling his grandson about the battle the old man was waging within himself. He said, “It is between two wolves, my son. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The boy took this in for a few minutes and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf won?”

The old Cherokee replied simply, “The one I feed.”

Charles Tolleson