Dirty War

Published in El Nacional
(Dominican Republic) on 10 December 2014
by Editorial (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Brett Morrison. Edited by Bora Mici.
The United States — the world's human rights champion — now faces contempt generated by a report from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which reveals that the CIA resorted to brutal torture methods against suspected terrorists between 2001 and 2009.

President Barack Obama admits that these interrogation techniques, including waterboarding the detainees, has caused significant damage to the image of the United States, although the Republican Party still seems to believe that those who committed these acts of torture should be applauded.

Only 524 of the more than 6,000 pages that make up the report were made available to the public, in which it is confirmed that the CIA interrogations, along with detainee confinement conditions, were worse than originally reported to then-President George W. Bush.

Some of the torture methods used in these interrogations, which would go on for weeks, include waterboarding, which consists of simulating drowning; sleep deprivation, sexual violence, hitting the detainees against walls and shouting death threats at them.

Although these methods were implemented after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon, these cruel procedures to extract confessions should not be defended or justified like some former officials of the Bush administration continue doing today.

The report notes that in some cases, torture techniques were so harsh that the staff carrying them out asked if they could stop, only to receive orders from their higher-ups in the CIA to continue. The "rectal hydration" method, for example, totally humiliated detainees.

In that report, which cost $40 million to write, it is noted that the brutal torture methods the CIA used against those suspected of being involved in the 9/11 attacks did not achieve the goal of identifying and apprehending the culprits, nor did it prevent new attacks. The only thing these torture methods did was tarnish the United States’ image.

Before the unveiling of such atrocities, President Obama self-censored these practices: The rest of the civilized world hopes that this will be the beginning of the end of this kind of dirty war, which has only degraded those who promote and support it.


Guerra sucia

Estados Unidos, convertido en centinela de los derechos humanos, afronta hoy el escarnio de un informe del Comité de Inteligencia del Senado que revela que la Agencia Central de Inteligencia incurrió en métodos brutales de tortura contra sospechosos de terrorismo entre 2001 y 2009.

El presidente Barack Obama admite que esas técnicas de interrogatorios, que incluían ahogamiento simulado a los detenidos, causaron un daño significativo a la imagen de Estados Unidos, aunque el bando republicano considera que los agentes que incurrieron en esas torturas deben ser condecorados.

Sólo 524 páginas fueron puestas a disposición del público, de las más de seis mil que conforma el informe, en el que se comprueba que los interrogatorios de la CIA, así como las condiciones de confinamiento a los reclusos fueron peores a lo informado al entonces presidente George W. Bush.

Entre los métodos de torturas empleados en esos interrogatorios que se prolongaban por semanas, figuran el “waterboarding”, que consiste en asfixia simulada por agua; la privación del sueño, violencia sexual, golpear contra un muro al detenido y la amenaza de muerte.

Aunque se aplicaron después del atentado terrorista contra las Torres Gemelas y el Pentágono, esos crueles procedimientos para obtener confesiones no deberían ser defendidos ni justificados como lo hacen hoy exfuncionarios de la administración del presidente Bush.

En el informe se señala que en algunos casos, las técnicas de tortura eran tan duras que el personal encargado de aplicarlas solicitó su suspensión, pero el alto mando de la CIA ordenó continuarlas, como el método de “hidratación rectal”, con el que se lograba la total humillación del detenido.

En ese informe, cuya redacción costó 40 millones de dólares, se hace constar que los brutales métodos de tortura empleados por la CIA contra sospechosos de participar en los atentados del 9/11 no lograron los objetivos de identificar y apresar a los culpables ni de prevenir nuevos ataques. El único objetivo alcanzado fue el de manchar la imagen de Estados Unidos.

Ante el desvelamiento de tales atrocidades, el presidente Obama ha hecho un ejercicio de autocrítica, que el mundo civilizado espera que sea el comienzo del fin de un tipo de guerra sucia que ha envilecido a quienes la promueven e impulsan.
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