Colonel Wilkerson shines a bright light on Bush 2.0's torture policies
Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson testified before Congress yesterday about Bush 2.0's torture policy and how he believes such a policy came to be. His opening statement is a scathing critique done by a man who was asked by Sec. of State Powell to "get to the bottom" of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse when that story broke. At that time he was serving under Sec. of State Powell as his Chief of Staff. You can read his opening statement HERE (.pdf) but below is just a small excerpt that I found particularly poignenant given my own beliefs about what we as a country are all about:
"...was expressed eloquently by Senator John McCain when he remarked that, when questions arise about breaking the rules, it isn't about the enemy, it's about us. Whether our enemy is German SS troops in the snows of the Battle of the Bulge in 1944-45, north Korean soldiers at the Chosin Reservoir, or north Vietnamese troops in the Parrot's Beak, it is not about how they treat us in war. It is about how we treat them. It is about us, as Americans.
When you break the rules, you damage America's power. You not only put your own
potential prisoners of war in jeopardy, you actually damage American prestige and that
diminishes our real power in the world."
I'll say it again, it's HARD to be a true democracy and there are NO short cuts.
"...was expressed eloquently by Senator John McCain when he remarked that, when questions arise about breaking the rules, it isn't about the enemy, it's about us. Whether our enemy is German SS troops in the snows of the Battle of the Bulge in 1944-45, north Korean soldiers at the Chosin Reservoir, or north Vietnamese troops in the Parrot's Beak, it is not about how they treat us in war. It is about how we treat them. It is about us, as Americans.
When you break the rules, you damage America's power. You not only put your own
potential prisoners of war in jeopardy, you actually damage American prestige and that
diminishes our real power in the world."
I'll say it again, it's HARD to be a true democracy and there are NO short cuts.
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