The Restoration of American Values

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee’s torture report reveals a nightmare scenario of human cruelty. It must not stand. Those responsible should be required to face charges in court.

The report of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee about the CIA’s use of torture reads like a modern horror story of human cruelty, in which the consequences for democracy, in whose name the torture was committed, are difficult to predict. Commentators are trying to understand and evaluate the sheer horror of what they read. “Torture is unacceptable for a democracy,” writes Michael Knigge of Deutsche Welle. “Not even in the exceptional situation in which the U.S. undoubtedly found itself following the devastating attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

Those who use torture as a means of obtaining information take an axe to the rule of law and are no different than the extremists of any color who seek to abolish it. For this reason, the report must have political and legal consequences as well. As Dianne Feinstein correctly noted, the interrogation methods applied under George W. Bush must finally be officially banned by Congress.

Those Responsible Must Be Taken to Court

And there must be legal consequences for those responsible, says Jochen Bittner, of Zeit Online. “No, the U.S. Constitution neither refers to nor allows such treatment in any way. Such treatment was permitted by George W. Bush, his National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, as well as the attorney general and the director of the CIA. Barack Obama has taken the right step by publishing the report. But if the U.S. president, as he said so himself, goes about restoring American values, then there is only one possible second step. Those responsible must then be taken to court.”*

Meanwhile, Gail Collins of the New York Times stated that the report is regarded as doubly frightening. “The … report concludes that all the torturing produced very little information that was useful … While we would love to believe that the human rights angle would be most effective in shocking the American people, polls show that when it comes to suspects with possible terror involvement, the public attitude toward torture is kind of meh.”

Bernd Pickert goes further in the Tageszeitung, and concludes that the U.S. is responsible for policy toward torture becoming lax. “Since the U.S. went on the offensive after Sept. 11, 2001, torturing prisoners itself, human rights organizations worldwide have had a renaissance in its observation that torture has not completely disappeared. If the U.S. imagines there can be a new debate over values of freedom, democracy, and human rights, then the CIA programs set up under President Barack Obama are not enough. A complete criminal investigation must eventually follow. Bush and Cheney belong not on talk shows, but on the stand.”

*Editor’s note: This quote, although accurately translated, could not be verified.