Guest Post: Karoli of Drums & Whistles on Torture

The MOMocrats are pleased to welcome guest contributor, Karoli, who blogs about life and the web at Drums and Whistles and about politics at Bang the Drum.
 

While CNN and the other Sunday talking heads obsess over the 'bitterness' speech, and the Clinton/McCain campaign continues to flog it, let's talk about the real reason to be bitter:  President George Bush ADMITS he knew about torture authorization after his top advisors got together and discussed in excruciating detail how best to carry it out. During an interview with ABC News last Thursday, President Bush admitted that he knew that "The Principals" discussed and approved the torture of so-called "high value" al Qaeda suspects:

"Well, we started to connect the dots in order to protect the American people." Bush told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. "And yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."

Think about this when you hear those trial balloons for Condoleeza Rice to be the VP candidate with McCain (wouldn't THAT be an incredible irony?):

The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic. These top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding, sources told ABC news.

Dear World,

Please accept my sincere apologies as an American citizen for the leadership of our country. Understand that he and his cabal were not the choice of the majority of Americans, but that he stole leadership by way of an electoral coup that each and every voter should remember in the upcoming November election. As an American, I'm ashamed that anyone in a leadership position in this country would dare to consider abandoning the Geneva conventions in favor of choosing -- in DETAIL -- known torture techniques to gain information about enemy plans. What al Qaeda did on 9/11/2001 was reprehensible. Still, that didn't give our leaders free reign to engage in inhuman and intolerable physical abuse of other human beings in the name of "war". Once again, I emphasize that Mr. Bush and his gang appointed themselves to this position without the approval of the majority of Americans. We are now horrified to discover that his lack of regard for human rights in the name of oil has extended so deeply into evil acts.

Sincerely, Karoli

I cannot imagine anyone sitting around a table deciding how long prisoners should be waterboarded, how naked they should be, how deeply humiliated they should become. I cannot imagine anyone sitting around a table figuring out how to instruct their soldiers to execute such orders. I cannot imagine the craven depths of depravity it took to smugly approve such acts and then admit them coldly and without regret. Still, it happened. And I'm bitter about it. I'm bitter that my citizenship has been abused in such a fashion, that such a stain has been applied to the word American. And I'm most bitter about the fact that in a day and age of near-instant information, the fact of Bush's direct approval of TORTURE has been ignored in favor of Clinton/McCain spin by the press, cable news, and broadcast news.

This evil man has disgraced us all. And for what? This wasn't about retribution for 9/11. It never has been. It's been his quest for oil, for riches, for control of the Middle East. Count on it. He sold our humanity for 30 barrels of oil.

Bitter? You're damn right I'm bitter.

Karoli builds communities on the web and administers retirement plans in real life. She's married, with three kids age 14-27, and enslaved by one little pug. 

Comments

[PunditMom]

"I cannot imagine anyone sitting around a table deciding how long prisoners should be waterboarded, how naked they should be, how deeply humiliated they should become. I cannot imagine anyone sitting around a table figuring out how to instruct their soldiers to execute such orders. I cannot imagine the craven depths of depravity it took to smugly approve such acts and then admit them coldly and without regret."

Unfortunately, I CAN imagine Bush & Rumsfeld & Cheney contemplating these things because because two of them are evil and one is OK with following that evil. Even more reason to be active and involved in this election.

Karoli, thanks for this great post.

[cynematic]

Karoli, a piercing and impassioned post--isn't it amazing how we heard nada about this in the MSM?

And, as you point out, if McCain has the gall to invite Rice to be his VP, we'll have a veteran who shamefully reversed his position on torture and a former secretary of state who presided over the meetings where the kinds and frequency of torture were discussed.

Why is it important that we adhere to the Geneva Convention? Maybe in part so we'll have the moral legitimacy to demand that any of our captive soldiers be treated humanely too.

[Karoli]

PunditMom, there was a time in the recent past where I looked upon Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush as caricatured villains because it was unthinkable that they could possibly be as evil as they appeared. As time went on, I realized it was dangerous to think of them in that fashion because I think we are not going to even know how much evil they've done until many years have passed. Not only are they evil, but they've painted all of us with the tar of their brush.

Cynematic, I so appreciate you all posting this, because it got NO attention in the media. I couldn't believe that such news was reported as though they were reporting the weather from a week ago while obsessing on 'bitterness' and Pennsylvania as though it were the last refuge on earth.

It's groups like the Momocrats that will make sure this gets out and gets attention, which it surely needs if we hope to have our children live in a future where they aren't called upon to sanction, endure, or carry out these inhumane acts.