Torture is problematic not just because it's inhumane and not just because it elicits false confessions. It usually precludes charging and trying the suspect. But now the first top U.S. official has admitted torture and its taint on trials. Yet, as recently as last week, Vice President Dick Cheney persisted in saying
[I]n the left wing of the Democratic Party, there are some people who believe that we really tortured. --VP Dick Cheney, Weekly Standard
No, Sir. It's your senior official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo who believes it. And it's not just al-Qahtani's potential trial that has been tainted. . . Mohammed Jawad, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the list goes on and on. Evidence may be true, but it's useless if it's tainted.
We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani. His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case [for prosecution].
--Susan J. Crawford, Convening Authority of Military Commissions
This quote is stunning on so many levels. It is the first time a senior Bush official publicly stated that a detainee was tortured. Second, Crawford did a brave thing by telling the truth (too bad telling the truth these days puts you in personal and professional jeopardy), contradicting statements made as recently as last month that the United States does not torture. Third, Crawford said that while the techniques were ostensibly authorized, the manner in which they were applied was overly-aggressive and too persistent. Fourth, torture undermines or precludes any eventual trial.
Al-Quatani is a Saudi national who allegedly tried to sneak into the U.S. and planned to be the 20th hijacker on 9/11. But we'll never know if this is true because we subjected him to the usual "coercive interrogation techniques" (forced nudity, prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, and extreme temperatures), as well as some more sadistic and humiliating "special practices" (forcing him to wear a bra and putting a thong over his head, and leashing him and making him perform dog tricks).
This is just the most recent example of a potential prosecution imploding because of torture. I was involved in one of the first: "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh. His case settled on the eve of the suppression hearing that was going to bring out the details of his torture. The Justice Department did not want its embryonic torture program exposed, so it offered him a deal. As part of the plea bargain, he had to say that he was not "intentionally mistreated" (in this case, an oxymoron) and swear that he would never file a lawsuit for torture.