The United States has reached a rare historic crossroads at which the integrity and moral character of our nation is in jeopardy of being dangerously undermined. The current debate regarding the legalization of torture in CIA detention centers carries with it implications of great importance. The president's agenda to legalize torture is a mistake second only to the Iraq War and is equally unjustified. Currently, the United States is holding more than 14,000 detainees at international facilities, many of whom have been held for months or years without being charged or granted access to an attorney. While the Bush administration employs the rhetoric of fear to justify their detention, the facts don't line up.
According to the Associated Press, American commanders told the international Red Cross, "Seventy to 90 percent of the Iraq detainees in 2003 were 'mistakes.'" This number is all the more sobering when one considers that criminal charges have been brought against only 10 Guantanamo inmates since 2002.
In other words, thousands of innocent people are being arrested, held without charge for extended periods of time, brutally interrogated and then released back to the street. Such a policy is not only morally reprehensible, but also ineffective in procuring useful information.
Last week, General John Kimmons stated in a Pentagon press briefing that, "No good intelligence is going to come from abusive practices. ... Our most significant successes ... have accrued from expert interrogators using mixtures of authorized humane interrogation practices." To underscore his point, the new Army interrogation manual explicitly forbids practices that could be construed as torture.
Still, the president continues to advocate a bill that would legalize "alternative procedures" through the unilateral modification of the Geneva Conventions. If passed, such a bill would be yet another slap in the face to the international community. Not only would the United States be relinquishing its moral credibility in the War on Terror, but it would be undermining the international system in order to justify wanton and apparently ineffective methods of torture. It is difficult enough to understand how this country can in good conscience deny anyone the right to confront their accuser, view evidence against them, have full access to an attorney, or be charged and tried in an expeditious manner. If one compounds this current process of detention with legalized torture, we will no longer be pushing the legal envelope but instead brazenly ignoring it
Senate Republicans John Warner, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins were right to join with Senate Democrats in standing up to the president on this measure. Hearsay and evidence obtained through cruel and unusual punishment have long been excluded from the courtroom and should continue to be, lest the adage prove true that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.