Had a great conversation last night with a very informed friend about torture, whether waterboarding is or not, how useful it is, etc. First thing I see this morning is a great essay by Matthew Alexander on the subject. Alexander is a 14 year Air Force vet and interrogator. I’ll let him make my argument – he does a much better job.

I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The large majority of suicide bombings in Iraq are still carried out by these foreigners. They are also involved in most of the attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. It’s no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me — unless you don’t count American soldiers as Americans.

It’s a good read, and thoughtfully done. Here is a list of other editorials that I have kept over time. I stopped collecting them some time around the summer when the volume became too much to keep track of.

• My favorite, a 30 year vet in interrogation: Two problems with torture
• A prominent Catholic viewpoint: Be Not Afraid II
• Tom Rick’s, another Army intel vet
• Malcom Nance, a SERE instructor who teaches the technique, is pretty adamant about the subject.
• Here is the unequivocal view of a Commandant of the Marine Corps and Commander of US Central Command.
• The story of Yukio Asano, sentenced to 15 years hard labor for waterboarding (among other torture techniques) American soldiers during WWII.
• A Natiional Guard JAG discusses the criminality of waterboarding
• And the now-famous CIA officer Kiriakou who admits that it is torture, but equivocates on the necessity of it.
• Some helpful sourcing of the phrase “Verschärfte Vernehmung“, i.e. enhanced interrogation, and how some of the practices of convicted WWII war criminals are precursors to what has happened at the hands of US interrogators.
• Lieutenant General John (“Jeff”) Kimmons, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, explaining that: “No good intelligence is going to come from abusive practices. I think history tells us that. I think the empirical evidence of the last five years, hard years, tell us that.”
• 5 myths about torture and truth. Darius Rejali, a political science professor, has studied the issue in a clinical manner and gets to the heart of some details. Bottom line: it doesn’t work. Here’s a key quote from a WWII era Japanese field manual: “the clumsiest possible method of gathering intelligence.”

Wow! It looks like the McCain amendment passed … overwhelmingly! This has to have something to do with Captain Ian Fishback and his courage. Here are a few links that cover the details. This is one of the unfortunately rare times I’ve felt like our government truly has a moral conscience. Let’s hope it continues.

• Washington Post story on the amendment.
• Another WP article.
• Today’s NYTimes story on the vote.
• The record of the senate vote on McCain’s amendment.
• NYTimes story on Captain Fishback.
• Andrew Sullivan’s extensive coverage of the vote and the issue.
• The Belgrade Dispatch blog item on the subject. This is interesting because the author quotes from sworn interviews.

An email I sent this morning to supportfishback at aol dot com. This man deserves everyone’s support for standing up to the unbelievable pressures of corruption.

Dear Captain Fishback,

I am a former Marine, one of many I’m sure, who truly does believe in the principles you outlined in your letter to Senator McCain. As a private citizen now, I have been saddened and disheartened by the many reports of abuse by our servicemen and women. While it would be easy to dismiss them for many reasons, it would be the wrong thing to do in a time of crisis for this country.

Therefore, it is with great pride that I read about your letter. Your actions are above commendation. Please know that many, many Americans stand with you in your attempt to restore traditional American values when our leadership seems to have forgotten them. It is the duty of all citizens, private or those committed to government service, to ensure that the actions our country are in alignment with our values. To the world, and to ourselves, we are what we do. Please keep the faith.

-Greg Rushton.

More on the subject here.

And then a message to my two senators:

Dear Senators Kenedy and Kerry,

I am writing to you to express my hopes that you will support the efforts of Captain Ian Fishback who recently sent a letter to Senator John McCain (link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/27/AR2005092701527.html). As a former Marine, his efforts struck a chord with me. His courage against the overwhelming obstacle of bureaucracy is nothing short of heroic. He deserves every ounce of support from every citizen of this great nation. Please do whatever it is that a senator can do to support Capt. Fishback in his efforts to expose the truth of his story.

Thank you sirs for taking the time to read this.

Gregory Rushton,
Randolph, MA

Great editorial in the NYT today. Frank Rich really hits the nail on the head on so many issues. I finished reading that one after reading this in the Sunday Globe. I think, with all of the declining support for the war, the 2006 elections will see a pretty big change in the power structure of this country.

What’s the deal with this administration’s fascination with torture? I certainly have little sympathy for anyone at Guantanamo, but hey, if we want to keep our boys safe from torture … no matter how it’s defined … we absolutely MUST refrain from even hinting at it ourselves. Abu Ghraib has ruined our integrity, and we still don’t seem to get it. We should be held to a higher standard because we’re supposed to be better then ‘they’ (whoever that is) are. Appointing a rationalist for torture to the top law enforcement position somehow seems anti-American to me.

[ from the NYT:
Red Cross Finds Detainee Abuse in Guantanamo ]
The conclusions by the inspection team, especially the findings involving alleged complicity in mistreatment by medical professionals, have provoked a stormy debate within the Red Cross committee. Some officials have argued that it should make its concerns public or at least aggressively confront the Bush administration.

[ from the WP: Rights Groups Urge Scrutiny of Gonzales ]
In a letter to Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the organizations, all members of the Washington-based Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, expressed concern about the role Gonzales played as White House counsel in setting the administration’s policy on the detention and interrogation of prisoners in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

[ from the WP: Red Cross Has Concerns About Treatment at Guantanamo ]
It said ICRC delegates found during a June visit to Guantanamo that U.S. authorities had devised and refined a system to break the will of the prisoners, using humiliation, solitary confinement, temperature extremes and force positions.

I wonder when the furor will kick in over this? Or will it at all? Probably not. But, that’s our value system. If we can’t legalize torture here, export it.

[ Terror suspects' torture claims have Mass. link ]
This spring, the Swedish government launched a series of investigations into the 2001 operation.
Since that time, the jet – apparently on long-term lease to the US military – has surfaced in other alleged cases of what the CIA calls “extraordinary” rendition – the secret practice of handing prisoners in US custody to foreign governments that don’t hesitate to use torture in interrogations.
The covert procedure, which must be authorized by a presidential directive, has gained little attention inside the United States.

I’m a big fan of updating the tax codes. I think everyone would agree that they’re a mess in the current form. Of course, there are as many solutions as there are people in the country. I’m waiting with baited breath on what’s to come.

[ Bush Plans Tax Code Overhaul (washingtonpost.com) ]
…the president will pursue a tax system where all income — whether from wages, dividends, capital gains or interest — is taxed only once…

…The administration will also push hard for large savings accounts that could shelter thousands of dollars of deposits each year from taxation on investment gains…

…To pay for those large tax cuts, the administration is looking at eliminating both the deduction for state and local taxes, and the business tax deduction for employer-sponsored health insurance…

Looks like some interesting stuff, as well as some not-so-pleasant stuff. The health-care thing will strike a pretty big nerve with business. It’s one of the major reasons hiring has not kept pace with the growing economy. Adding to that burden doesn’t sound wise to me.

Tax-sheltered savings sounds nice. Japan has done this for a while, and personal savings was a huge reason the full effects of the recession was blunted in the 90’s. We need more of that kind of thinking here.

Thanks to Doc for this link to Chris Nolan.

[ Chris Nolan - Politics from Left to Right ]
Over in the House, conservative Republicans run the show. And the House works closely with the White House which is making no bones about its agenda for the next two years. So political power in opposition to the Bush administration is going to be wielded by a handful of moderate Republican Senators who will find their strongest allies in the Democratic Party. In this you see the beginnings here of something that’s already being talked about in California: Bipartisan politics. The far left falls away because it can’t get anything done; it’s too busy looking back to the 1970s. The far right falls away because its politics aren’t viable, it’s too busy trying to recreate the 1950s. Both are principled but they don’t have the votes they need to get what they want.

This post is a good read, and a dead-on analysis of both parties. Reading this, I can see more clearly why I’m so cynical of both established parties. Neither one, in my humble opinion, offers anything to the fiscally conservative and socially tolerant voters. Both cater to special interests to the point of absurdity, rendering both devoid of any real moral fiber, again, in my humble opinion.

This is a badly needed win for us … but more so for Iraq. Here’s to all the men and women fighting this one, both US forces and Iraqi forces.

U.S. Forces Launch Attack on Fallujah

U.S. forces entered the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah Monday, launching a long-anticipated urban offensive that is widely seen as the most significant and controversial battle since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 19 months ago.

The problems never seem to be resolved. Samarra, the model, is quickly proving troublesome.

52 Killed In Spate Of Attacks In Iraq
The deadliest violence occurred Saturday morning in Samarra, a city about 65 miles north of Baghdad that U.S. and Iraqi forces retook from insurgents early last month.

We have to make decisive victories if this is ever going work. Keep praying.

These are great quotes from James Roosevelt Jr., FDR’s grandson. Neither Bush nor Kerry can come close to FDR’s successes, strength of character, or vision. Bush, at most, has a vision. The added emphasis is mine.

[ MSNBC - What Is a War President? ]

A War President isn’t self-proclaimed. A president becomes a true War President by leadership that inspires followers at home and abroad download west side story online . And most importantly, a War President never loses sight of the goals of true peace with honor.

For Bush to grant himself this title is an insult to my grandfather and the inspired leaders who led this country in wars that were just. To put it simply, George W. Bush has not earned the right to be called a War President.

I’ve been reading quite a bit of Andrew Sullivan

lately … in fact I’ve been trying to read the writings of many of those I have not agreed with. He was one I found hard to read about a year ago. Pat Buchanan is someone I almost never agree with. I, as a slightly liberal-leaning libertarian with a healthy dose of fiscal conservatism, had very little in common with those on the extreme right.

But, over the past few months, I’ve seen more and more of the hard-core conservative writers come to the same conclusions. There are so many examples of how badly we’ve managed this attempt at nation-building, I’ll leave it to real bloggers to note those with detail. The aspect I had not considered was looking at the nation’s current attempt to rebuild Iraq through the lens of previous attempts.

[ How Do We Get Out? (Pat Buchanan) ]
Eighteen months after we occupied Germany, the nation was de-Nazified and pacified. Eighteen months after we occupied Iraq, Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise and, as Colin Powell now concedes, “We are fighting an intense insurgency [and] …. it’s getting worse.”

…
That the number of enemy and incidence of attacks have multiplied fourfold in a year forces us to one conclusion: we are losing this war. For the guerrilla wins if he does not lose, and the Iraqi insurgents are not losing.

There has been so much failure, it overshadows any successes we’ve had. Sure, Libya has seen the light. Sure, Saddam is out. But those achievements pale beside the current state of disaster we find ourselves in. And we cannot just get out. We have to make it work. This country’s integrity (Abu Ghraib put the last nail in the coffin as far as the rest of the world is concerned) is directly tied to making Iraq work. If it fails, we’re history. I am completely confident that the massive ineptitude and incompetence displayed by our leadership show no signs of changing. I am only slightly confident that a change in leadership will make any difference at all. Which is worse? I still don’t know.

Iraqi police ambush insurgents buy Rockin’ The Fillmore mp3 album

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Police launched a surprise attack on an insurgent checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing 25 militants