Last Thursday, I decided to highlight a few diaries related to civil liberties and human rights that I thought were quite good but didn't receive that much discussion following publication. I've decided to provide another edition this week, particularly because the topic of torture has resurfaced amid the killing of Osama bin Laden. Once again, I've picked out a few key passages from these diaries that cogently describe the human rights challenges in American domestic and foreign policy, but I encourage you to read each of them in their entirety.
On Monday, geomoo wrote Foreign Policy of a Wounded Bear, a diary whose title was borrowed from a quotation by former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. The author looks back at an old op-ed by Ted Koppel and argues that many of our government's policies in response to 9/11 have strengthened rather than weakened the resolve of terrorists, and emphasizes an important point about Guantanamo that many front-page writers have reiterated this week:
I am seeing reports that bin Laden's death was made possible by intelligence gathered from Guantanamo detainees. I am sure plenty of people will take this as justification for criminal behavior of the U.S. government there. It is not. There is no question that bin Laden could have been captured, probably sooner, using standard criminal procedures for fighting criminal conspiracies. And it is almost certain, on the basis of what is known about interrogation, that the same information would have been gathered more readily without the use of torture. And even if none of these things were so, torture is fundamentally wrong morally and politically. Torture goes hand in hand with tyranny. Wars of aggression go hand in hand with tyranny. I repeat, it is foolish to base foreign policy decisions on wanting to capture and kill one person.
And now we can resign ourselves to an endless cycle of terrorism and reprisal, or we can look for another way. We can recognize the mistake of responding to a criminal conspiracy with wars of aggression, creating thousands of enemies while eliminating one.
On Tuesday, Upper West wrote about the cowardice and hypocrisy of The New York Times in refusing to call torture "torture" in NYT: Only "Critics" Say Waterboarding is Torture:
Sorry, NYT, but waterboarding was torture when used by the Spanish Inquisition; it was torture 500 years later when it was used by the Japanese in W.W. II; and it was torture when used in hte [sic] "war on terror" here. It did not become "un-torture" just because it was used by the United States under G.W. Bush.
On Wednesday, Lost Left Coaster gave us Coombs: Manning's Detention Conditions Dramatically Improve, an informative review of how Pfc. Bradley Manning's detention has markedly changed for the better ever since he was moved from Quantico to Ft. Leavenworth -- though the author still asks some good questions about Manning's treatment thus far and what will happen going forward:
I am glad that Manning's detention conditions have improved, and I am hopeful that he will go to trial soon. However, we still need answers: why was he held at Quantico under such deplorable conditions for so long? If he really was a threat to himself or otherwise merited the treatment he received at Quantico, why all of the sudden could his detention conditions change so dramatically? Why is the Army still refusing to answer questions from the UN, and why can't Congressman Kucinich visit?
Editor's two cents: I believe the improvement of Manning's condition while in pre-trial detention is a well-deserved credit to those principled and vigilant activists who worked incredibly hard to spread the word about WikiLeaks, treatment of prisoners, and the government's role in both issues. Cheers to them, and keep up the good work.
Finally, DavidSegal provided us with an action diary earlier today in Bin Laden Is Dead, But Will The Patriot Act Live On? by reminding us of one of the most destructive policies that ever arose from 9/11, and how it is long overdue that it come to an end:
A key debate is brewing as the vote grows near: The right-wing will argue that Bin Laden's demise is evidence that the spying regime was justified. We believe it means that it's time to fix the Patriot Act once and for all. We must erase bin Laden's ugly legacy, not extend it: By ending the PATRIOT Act's erosion of our civil liberties, we can protect the freedoms that make America worth fighting for.