1 Boring Old Man

On Torture and American Values

Once upon a time, it was the United States that urged all nations to obey the letter and the spirit of international treaties and protect human rights and liberties. American leaders denounced secret prisons where people were held without charges, tortured and killed. And the people in much of the world, if not their governments, respected the United States for its values. The Bush administration has dishonored that history and squandered that respect. As an article on this newspaper’s front page last week laid out in disturbing detail, President Bush and his aides have not only condoned torture and abuse at secret prisons, but they have conducted a systematic campaign to mislead Congress, the American people and the world about those policies.

Once upon a time, it was the New York Times that kept us informed about our government and our politicians, that urged us to stick to our 200 year old Constitution. The New York Times exposed lies and attempts by unscrupulous politicians to manipulate public opinion and erode our principles. Then they listened to Judith Miller and others, and lead the march to a misbegotten and tragic war for no reason. They listened to editors who muted the exposure of the heinous government we have endured for almost seven years under an incompetent and ill-advised President. They withheld exposing the N.S.A. Domestic Spying for at least a year.

For the rest of the nation, there is an immediate question: Is this really who we are? Is this the country whose president declared, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” and then managed the collapse of Communism with minimum bloodshed and maximum dignity in the twilight of the 20th century? Or is this a nation that tortures human beings and then concocts legal sophistries to confuse the world and avoid accountability before American voters?

Truly banning the use of torture would not jeopardize American lives; experts in these matters generally agree that torture produces false confessions. Restoring the rule of law to Guantánamo Bay would not set terrorists free; the truly guilty could be tried for their crimes in a way that does not mock American values. Clinging to the administration’s policies will only cause further harm to America’s global image and to our legal system. It also will add immeasurably to the risk facing any man or woman captured while wearing America’s uniform or serving in its intelligence forces.

This is an easy choice.