The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Just Trust Us:
Did top officials order the use of torture? It depends on the meaning of the words “order” and “torture.” Last August Mr. Rumsfeld’s top intelligence official sent Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the Guantánamo prison, to Iraq. General Miller recommended that the guards help interrogators, including private contractors, by handling prisoners in a way that “sets the conditions” for “successful interrogation and exploitation.” What did he and his superiors think would happen?
Anyone remember Bill Clinton wiggling on the word “is” during the Starr witch hunt?
Anyone recall the murder of Becket in his cathedral by four knights who took Henry II’s “who will rid me of this troublesome priest” as a call to action?
What exactly are we trying to learn from these prisoners? Saddam Hussein is gone, the secret police files are open and being mined for blackmail by Ahmed Chalabi, most of us know that there was no link between bin Laden and Saddam.
Are we trying to find out more about the attacks on US troops? I have a suspicion that the conduct of the occupation has a lot to do with that: I would venture that the indiscriminate roundups of civilians for no reason other than their presence at the wrong place and the wrong time — something the authorities can’t do here — has a lot to do with it.
If this is how we export democratic values, do we expect anything different that what we’re seeing?
Reading up on the case of PFC England — the soldier with the leash who has become the icon of Abu Ghraib — why are the commanders exploiting the compliance of young soldiers who probably can’t find Geneva on a map to do their dirty work? I’m not sympathetic to the “I was only following orders” argument but I’m not in country, either. And I think the blame should be assessed with those who gave the orders.
Who are they?