The Torture Debate: Who is For and Who's Against?

It is sometimes hard to figure out who are allies and who are opponents of efforts to stop torture. The United States Senate which has found it difficult to get any controversial legislation passed the filibuster blockade has finally passed an amendment to the intelligence authorization bill requiring all governmental agencies, including the CIA, to comply with the directives on interrogation in the army field manual.

The bill would thus outlaw waterboarding and other inhumane and cruel methods of interrogation of detainees. Now you would expect that John McCain, the leader of the fight against torture, would vote for the bill, instead, he voted against. What a disappointment! Similarly, Joe Lieberman, an observant Jew, and a lawyer who has defended the need for the rule of law, voted against the bill, perhaps to give cover to his friend John McCain, whom he is supporting as a Presidential candidate.

But here is Morris Davis, an Air Force colonel who was formerly the chief military prosecutor on Guantanamo, writing an op ed in the New York Times arguing that evidence obtained by waterboarding should not be used in the upcoming trials at Guantanamo. He contends that if we declare evidence obtained from waterboarding as off limits in the upcoming trials that would go a long way to dissuade interrogators from using the technique. Equally, it would signal to the world that the United States was returning to its traditional policy of outlawing torture and upholding humane standards in the administration of justice.

Interestingly, he contends that the continued use of torture puts our soldiers at risk. In the war against Iraq in 1991, thousands of Iraqi soldiers gave up their arms and surrendered to the American army believing that they would be treated humanely. “Would it have been different,” he asks, “if the perception of us as purveyors of torture and humiliation existed back then? ....Our reputation in 1991 as the good guys paid dividends and supported our nations interests. We must regain that reputation.”

Colonel Davis goes on to point out another anomaly of the kind we began with: “Senator Lindsey Graham, who is also a lawyer in the Air Force Reserves, said that no military judge would allow the introduction of such evidence.” We, of course, hope so, but also note that Senator Graham was among those who voted against the bill that would have outlawed torture.