Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
The CIA, its friends, and the Bush 43 administration people who should be prosecuted for torture, are defending their misdeed, arguing that torture yield information that saved American lives. They aren’t proud of what they did, goes their defense, but the end justified their means and they should be thanked, lauded, even deified, not criticized or punished.
I don’t believe a single word uttered by CIA director John Brennan. Here are a few reactions to Brennan, et al:
Osama Bin Laden’s dead, but his victory over the United States on 9/11 lives on. We were not damaged badly that day: 3,000 lives lost, property damage in the single-digit billions; pro-rated for population and purchasing power, the attack on Pearl Harbor did much more damage. In a speech I thought President George W. Bush should have given, I wrote:
But most of the Pentagon escaped damage, and both military and civilian personnel there continue to discharge their duties. Our system of military command and control is intact and fully operational. From our own shores to the farthest reaches of the Earth, our military forces are on alert and ready to engage and repel all enemies that approach.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
What I cannot and will not promise is that terrorism will never again visit our nation. Dangerous currents of zealotry and malice flow throughout the world, currents that will, on occasion, send waves of violence against our shores. But terrorist attacks are rare events. It is an objective fact that Americans are much more likely to be injured or killed by automobile accidents than by terrorist attacks.
Therefore, as we begin our response to today’s attacks, let us remember a great truth about America: we can be defeated only if we defeat ourselves.
The terrorists intended to spill American blood, and they succeeded. But their ultimate goal was to frighten us into surrendering our freedoms in exchange for the illusion of greater safety. Their definition of victory is an America that reacts to today’s attacks not by remaining true to its principles, but by abandoning its freedoms for the false security of a police state. They hope to panic us into committing national suicide.
And panicked we were. We had the bejesus scared out of us. Led by weak, angry, and frightened men, we endorsed, indeed embraced, depraved conduct — torture, indefinite detention without trial, domestic spying, pre-emptive war based on lies. We are less free than before 9/11, but I doubt we are more safe. Bin Laden provoked us into betraying our respect for and protection of human rights and our own freedoms.
The CIA and its historical revisionist allies are pleading necessity, and trying to reduce the Senate’s report to a partisan document. Don’t let them get away with it.