Glenn Greenwald, at Salon.com, has a most interesting article entitled "Ronald Reagan: vengeful, score-settling, Hard Left ideologue".Greenwald begins by noting how our thinking on torture has changed dramatically in a mere 20 years, "and how depraved and extremist our political and media classes have become ... "
He quotes what has become a relatively "famous" article by Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post, in which Krauthammer ends up saying that there are occasions when the use of torture is not only acceptable but necessary.
What?
Surprise, surprise! The hero of the Krauthammer's of the world, Ronald Reagan, thought otherwise!
May 20, 1988, when sending the Convention Against Torture to the U.S. Senate to be ratified, Reagan said:
"The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention. It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.
"The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called 'universal jurisdiction.' Each State Party is required required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution."
Here's what the Convention actually said:
"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability, or any other public emergency, maybe invoked as a justification of torture...Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law."
Reagan, the "hard-left ideologue" signed the treaty!
Torture can never be justified under ANY circumstance! We are obligated to prosecute our torturers, and if we do not do so, another state may do so.
Welcome, Spain. Have at the bastards!
Greenwald offers much more of importance, which you can read here.
2 comments:
That was in a time long gone. You know when we had politicians who strove to be statesmen, who were willing to negotiate. Who didn't sell their souls for a seat, or sell a seat in exchange for a soul or money.
Now we have nothing but ideologues, spouting rhetoric in an effort to divide (and conquer) the American people.
Do you think anyone cares what was said? I care what our military has said about the value of torture to get facts from people in pain. IT DOES NOT WORK AS THEY WILL SAY ANYTHING TO STOP THE PAIN. Try it on your kids or friends some day, when you have a spare battery, wire and exposed genitals. See what they will confess to. Ask those veterans that underwent enhanced interrogation under some experts.
Let’s hook up Bush and Cheney and ask them what they did to undermine our system of checks and balances. I will bet they will tell you anything before the wires are hooked up. They waste time, checking out to see if they told you anything of importance.
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