Liberal, Yet Logical

It is time for the releasing of the torture memos, and the torture of suspected terrorist story altogether, to be called what it really is.

The most overblown, media driven story in recent memory.

Going back a few years here, but was the fact that these tactics were being used really a shock to anyone? Did anyone believe that, in the pursuit of information that could affect national security and American lives, we restrained ourselves so as not to extend beyond, say, a Perry Mason style interrogation? Who are we kidding? Not only were we not surprised by it, we expected it, we wanted it. And, dare I say, we needed it. And despite all efforts to persuade otherwise, it will continue, as it always has. Just not in Guantanamo.

What is most interesting about the release this week of the terror memos is not the torture methods employed, but the safety measures applied to these methods. The time allotted, the exact manner, and extreme safety measures that were in place to prevent permanent injury, never mind death, were impressively protective. The same methods could not be in use for more than 30 days without additional approval, which was given once evidence was provided that the suspect had a high likelihood of having pertinent information. In every case, it was mandatory to have a physician and psychiatrist present, with full autonomy. A slap to the face could only be with fingers spread wide, and to a specific area. The accounts of “throwing people into walls” were true, but the fact that this was a flexible wall built in a special room, and again, done with physicians present, was hardly mentioned in the press.

Nothing in these memos (actually, report. They are long as hell and read something the back of a credit card application) is something we did not already know, save some minor details. What is impressive it the lengths gone to physically protect these “combatants,” the reports littered with the precautions taken and considered mandatory. These reports reduce what was a media firestorm to a log cabin fireplace, an unnecessarily exaggerated story thrown on the disaster that was the Bush administration. And considering the overwhelmingly damning evidence detailing the incompetence already, we failed to question the initial accounts of terror. The media and ACLU told us to be angry about it, that it was un-American, all while we gave it a passing, superficial display of shock to our friends over coffee at Starbucks.

These reports mean little, if anything. It gives away nothing that was not already known, and if this in some way aids the terrorists in their planning, then they are far less intelligent that we thought. These reports were met with the expectation of Jack Bauer-esque, kneecap busting torture, and were greatly disappointing to the general public. As much as we can pile on the previous administration, Jack Nicholson was right. Regarding these CIA agents doing what needs to be done, “we want them on that wall, we need them on that wall.” These “memos” do nothing to change that. This is not right-wing or left wing, its simple logic.