If we had to rely solely on the word of George W. Bush about the progress in the war on terrorism and the value of information obtained from Muslim prisoners in U.S. custody we would be in trouble. Bush’s speech today from the White House was both self-serving and misleading. I give the President credit for one thing–he’s a great propagandist. Let’s ignore for the moment that terrorist attacks in which people have been killed or wounded have quadrupled since 2001. Are you getting this? We have four times as many attacks with people being killed and wounded by terrorists and Bush wants you to believe you are better off. But I digress.
According to Bush, secret prisons and torture have kept America safe. Not entirely true. While fessing up to the secret prisons, one of the critical things Bush failed to tell the American people was that CIA interrogators learned the hard way that torture was not an effective interrogation method. Books written by Jim Risen and Ron Suskind during the past two years provide compelling accounts that torture against people, particularly Khalid Sheikh Mohamad (KSM), was ineffective. Suskind recounts that KSM, one of the masterminds behind the 9-11 attack, was waterboarded–a technique designed to make you feel like you are drowning. Interrogators also threatened to rape and murder his family. KSM reportedly replied, “Do what you will, my family will be with God”.
Bush also neglected to mention that, despite his previous criticism of the Clinton Administration for not fighting terrorism as a military threat,almost all of the Al Qaeda operatives cited in his speech were captured through intelligence operations. In other words, most of the successes we have achieved as a nation in tracking down and capturing terrorists has been the work of law enforcement and and intelligence officials, not our soldiers.
Another thing not mentioned by Bush in the speech today concerns the CIA officers who first told Washngton Post reporter Dana Priest about the secret prisons; they spoke up because they were alarmed by the Administration’s violations of the Geneva Accords and its refusal to recognize that torture was counterproductive.
Bush, being Bush, can’t help himself and fills his speech with genuine bad guys and hapless souls who had no means or ability to carry out terrorist attacks. Iyman Faris, for example, is once again trotted out as an Al Qaeda terrorist who was going to take down the Brooklyn Bridge. Yet, subsequent investigation demonstrated he was a man of wild dreams with no competence to harm the bridge. He was the type of guy who could be conned into buying it, but he had trouble blowing up balloons.
The Bush con game–to persuade the American people that we are safer only if Republicans are elected–is wearing thin. Today’s speech is remarkable in one regard. Bush at least fessed up that he was witting of the secret prisons. This is good because at least the CIA won’t be fingered as the rogue elephant who took it upon itself to torture muslim prisoners. That was a decision made at the highest levels by political officials. If Congress decides to take this issue up and put in place a legal procedure for trying and punishing those individuals who are serious about killing Americans, they can help start the process of removing this stain on our national honor.
During the Cold War we fought the Soviet Union, who were masters at using secret prisons and torture. We won the Cold War in part because we at least knew such behavior is reprehensible. Now, in the midst of a newly declared non-war war, we have met the enemy and surrendered our nation’s integrity and honor. Republicans and Democrats need to come together on one critical point–when it comes to fighting terrorists, we cannot and should not act like terrorists. That’s a point George Bush still does not grasp.
……………………………………………………..
Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder
of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm
that helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by
terrorism and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously
with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s
Office of Counter Terrorism (as a Deputy Director), is a recognized
expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk
management. Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety
of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio,
ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News,
and the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for
publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York
Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and
aviation security around the world. Further bio
details.
Personal Blog: No Quarter
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BoomanTribune Posts
calling critics Hitler supporters? Most folks are too young to remember WWII anyway. They will just know he is name calling. And such vicious name calling! Of course, I’ve called him a nazi too, so maybe we are even in name calling, but in reality he IS closer to being a nazi than his critics!
I my view our WWII vets did not take out Hitler and the Japanese Empire and Italy to see our own government adopt similar policies when dealing with prisoners of war. I call them prisoners because if this is a war or terror, then the enemy combatants are soldiers. Wars are fought with soldiers. They should be treated as we expect our own soldiers who are captured will be treated.
Republicans and Democrats need to come together on one critical point–when it comes to fighting terrorists, we cannot and should not act like terrorists.
I totally agree. The fight against terrorism is not only a fight fought on the ground, but also a fight about concepts, of what is right and what is wrong, and to able to claim any authority on these issues you need to have your moral and ethical standards in order.
First of all, excellent analysis! Great piece…
Secondly, I just read the transcript of Bush’s speech from the White House website and it is mindblowing. Absolutely mindblowing.
All you have to do is substitute a few words (such as imperialist for terrorist) and it sounds as though it was being spoken by Kim Jong-il of North Korea, one of the military junta leaders of Myanmar or Lukashenka in Belarus!
My god… it is literally just going on and on about how torturing people is JUSTIFIED. Not just torturing them but holding them incommunicado in secret prisons for years on end without any criminal conviction!
You know even in North Korea and Saudi Arabia and the WORST of the worst dictatorships, they always get some kind of guilty plea or verdict. It might be wrested from torture but they feel like they need some kind of “legitimacy” in the form of a sentence of criminal guilt.
But the U.S.? We dont need no stinking guilty verdicts.
Bush I see was full of his wacko English as usual:
Here’s an even odder one:
Mind you that’s the official transcript.
And who exactly IS at Gitmo, according to Bush?
Suspected and potential? Potential? I am a potential murderer too, so are you, so are we all. Jeez!!
And the justification for this crap, according to Bush?
We believe…. we believe… we’re kinda, pretty sure, that maybe somehow it is potentially possible that in some sort of way Abu Z was doing something bad.
And of course Bush goes onto chortle about how Abu Z “resisted” questioning until torture was used, but Bush can’t possibly tell you what kind of torture because then the “enemy” could learn ways to “resist” it. Sure!
Ugh this whole thing just makes me want to puke… just to cleanse myself.
Pax