What went wrong at Abu Ghraib and what can the U.S. do to repair the damage?
Just as we had ghost detainees apparently at Abu Ghraib, we had a ghost torture policy when it came to what the United States was actually doing—not just at Abu Ghraib but in Afghanistan and with Al Qaeda detainees. We in the human-rights movement met with top officials at the Pentagon and the White House over a year ago to raise concerns about the treatment of Al Qaeda detainees and Afghan prisoners in U.S. custody. Many of those who were responsible for the violations against Afghan detainees were transferred to Iraq and apparently transferred their policies, as well. We were assured at the time that the United States eschewed all kinds of treatment of detainees from torture to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. That, obviously, was not true.
Are you suggesting that the abuse was policy?
That’s why I say there was a ghost policy. The public face was reputable, but the systemic policy seems to have been transferred from one place to another. Of course torture goes way back in U.S. history. When I read of the use of water-boarding against one of the Al Qaeda suspects—the process of submerging someone’s head underwater until they feel that they’re drowning—I was reminded of the so-called water cure in the war in the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century, when U.S. forces would put bamboo shafts down the throats of their victims and pour as much dirty water as they could into their stomachs. This kind of mistreatment has a long and unfortunately disreputable reputation in the annals of American occupations. And therefore it really should come as no surprise to us that these things are continuing.
MSNBC article
Just as we had ghost detainees apparently at Abu Ghraib, we had a ghost torture policy when it came to what the United States was actually doing—not just at Abu Ghraib but in Afghanistan and with Al Qaeda detainees. We in the human-rights movement met with top officials at the Pentagon and the White House over a year ago to raise concerns about the treatment of Al Qaeda detainees and Afghan prisoners in U.S. custody. Many of those who were responsible for the violations against Afghan detainees were transferred to Iraq and apparently transferred their policies, as well. We were assured at the time that the United States eschewed all kinds of treatment of detainees from torture to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. That, obviously, was not true.
Are you suggesting that the abuse was policy?
That’s why I say there was a ghost policy. The public face was reputable, but the systemic policy seems to have been transferred from one place to another. Of course torture goes way back in U.S. history. When I read of the use of water-boarding against one of the Al Qaeda suspects—the process of submerging someone’s head underwater until they feel that they’re drowning—I was reminded of the so-called water cure in the war in the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century, when U.S. forces would put bamboo shafts down the throats of their victims and pour as much dirty water as they could into their stomachs. This kind of mistreatment has a long and unfortunately disreputable reputation in the annals of American occupations. And therefore it really should come as no surprise to us that these things are continuing.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
