Enhanced interrogation is yet another euphemism that belies it’s real purpose and effect. War and especially modern warfare as practised in the United States and Western Europe is full of these poppycock descriptions for degrading human life. Let’s call a spade a spade and say that in our country it became okay to torture people whom we viewed as a threat to our national existence. The apologists for enhanced interrogation were policy makers at the highest levels of our government, including the President of the United States. When the images of this torture began to flood the media our then president described the situation as a few bad apples at the bottom. It’s now become apparent from recently released documents that the bad apples were at the top. The bad apples have now become hot potatoes because no one wants to cut to the quick and prosecute those who advocated and authorized the torture. On one side of the aisle allegations are raised that we threaten to further weaken the country and our ability to conduct intelligence operations which in effect are coveting our neighbor’s goods. Intelligence is yet another euphemism for spying and we spy along with the rest of the world because we are afraid of the other guys or gals.
I don’t want to tear the country apart with a witch hunt, but as a former member of the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps and a person who at one time fell under the Geneva Conventions, I’d like to see U.S. soldiers, sailors and marines be afforded a measure of humanitarian protection in war zones. It’s more than ironic that most of the defenders of these practices never served our country. Once again its the chickenhawks who are squawking the loudest. How about a little enhanced common sense for a change? Why not a return to the Golden Rule? The phony Christians are often invoking our Judeo- Christian roots, then why not start acting like Judeo-Christians and loving our enemy and treating others as we’d like to be treated.
Turn the bad apples over to the International Criminal Court and let them deal with them and exonerate American and Judeo-Christian principles and protect soldiers, sailors and marines everywhere. That would be really supporting the troops.