It's Our Cage, Too
Torture Betrays Us and Breeds New Enemies
By Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar
Thursday, May 17, 2007; Page A17

Fear can be a strong motivator. It led Franklin Roosevelt to intern tens of thousands of innocent U.S. citizens during World War II; it led to Joseph McCarthy's witch hunt, which ruined the lives of hundreds of Americans. And it led the United States to adopt a policy at the highest levels that condoned and even authorized torture of prisoners in our custody.

Fear is the justification offered for this policy by former CIA director George Tenet as he promotes his new book. Tenet oversaw the secret CIA interrogation program in which torture techniques euphemistically called "waterboarding," "sensory deprivation," "sleep deprivation" and "stress positions" -- conduct we used to call war crimes -- were used. In defending these abuses, Tenet revealed: "Everybody forgets one central context of what we lived through: the palpable fear that we felt on the basis of the fact that there was so much we did not know."

We have served in combat; we understand the reality of fear and the havoc it can wreak if left unchecked or fostered. Fear breeds panic, and it can lead people and nations to act in ways inconsistent with their character.

The American people are understandably fearful about another attack like the one we sustained on Sept. 11, 2001. But it is the duty of the commander in chief to lead the country away from the grip of fear, not into its grasp. Regrettably, at Tuesday night's presidential debate in South Carolina, several Republican candidates revealed a stunning failure to understand this most basic obligation. Indeed, among the candidates, only John McCain demonstrated that he understands the close connection between our security and our values as a nation.

Tenet insists that the CIA program disrupted terrorist plots and saved lives. It is difficult to refute this claim -- not because it is self-evidently true, but because any evidence that might support it remains classified and unknown to all but those who defend the program.

These assertions that "torture works" may reassure a fearful public, but it is a false security. We don't know what's been gained through this fear-driven program. But we do know the consequences.

As has happened with every other nation that has tried to engage in a little bit of torture -- only for the toughest cases, only when nothing else works -- the abuse spread like wildfire, and every captured prisoner became the key to defusing a potential ticking time bomb. Our soldiers in Iraq confront real "ticking time bomb" situations every day, in the form of improvised explosive devices, and any degree of "flexibility" about torture at the top drops down the chain of command like a stone -- the rare exception fast becoming the rule.

To understand the impact this has had on the ground, look at the military's mental health assessment report released earlier this month. The study shows a disturbing level of tolerance for abuse of prisoners in some situations. This underscores what we know as military professionals: Complex situational ethics cannot be applied during the stress of combat. The rules must be firm and absolute; if torture is broached as a possibility, it will become a reality.

This has had disastrous consequences. Revelations of abuse feed what the Army's new counterinsurgency manual, which was drafted under the command of Gen. David Petraeus, calls the "recuperative power" of the terrorist enemy.

Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld once wondered aloud whether we were creating more terrorists than we were killing. In counterinsurgency doctrine, that is precisely the right question. Victory in this kind of war comes when the enemy loses legitimacy in the society from which it seeks recruits and thus loses its "recuperative power."

The torture methods that Tenet defends have nurtured the recuperative power of the enemy. This war will be won or lost not on the battlefield but in the minds of potential supporters who have not yet thrown in their lot with the enemy. If we forfeit our values by signaling that they are negotiable in situations of grave or imminent danger, we drive those undecideds into the arms of the enemy. This way lies defeat, and we are well down the road to it.

This is not just a lesson for history. Right now, White House lawyers are working up new rules that will govern what CIA interrogators can do to prisoners in secret. Those rules will set the standard not only for the CIA but also for what kind of treatment captured American soldiers can expect from their captors, now and in future wars. Before the president once again approves a policy of official cruelty, he should reflect on that.

It is time for us to remember who we are and approach this enemy with energy, judgment and confidence that we will prevail. That is the path to security, and back to ourselves.

Charles C. Krulak was commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. Joseph P. Hoar was commander in chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994.

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Good post, Jubal....

General Hoar took over Centcom shortly before I rotated out. I had a very good impression of him.

Are these the "commanders" that Commander Guy says he's listening to?

Took the words out of my.... finger tips..?

gee, does it seem like we're the people who should deem what is "free and democratic"?

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John McPain is quite a quandary, isn't he... He doesn't mind the constant torture we provoke to our civilian contractors, soldiers, and Iraqi civilians, but he doesn't want us doing it to insurgents. I'd think that, as a Viet Nam POW, he'd either be all for it or all against it.



Just like every other questionable offense this administration has perpetrated!



you know, regardless of how twisted this bastard was, he still seems like the only one who actually had any sense about him.



Maybe he should seek the guidance of his Attorney general on this... Oh yeah, I forgot that Gonzales was more idiotic that the moron that he serves at (to) the pleasure of. Anyone think that bush wanted a court jester when he put Gonzales in there?

Good post indeed. I included it in the newsletter and site update

Old saying: Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Although I'm not sure I understand what you're saying about "torture we provoke". I'm sure McCain opposes violence which is directed against our troops, even if he doesn't agree with you and me that the best way to stop it right now would be to withdraw.

Very good article.

IMO a nation that relies on torture for its survival does not deserve to survive, and that goes for every nation, from Nazi Germany to the good ole US of A. If I were tortured by the represenatives of a nation for information that I did not have, I would want to do everything in my power to see that nation punished for its acts. We invite terrorism against ourselves by torturing. If we torture, we have no right to complain about what others do to us. I'd like to see some of those people who wear little American flags on their lapels who authorized torture be tortured themselves to let them get a taste of their own medicene.

Actually, some of them HAVE been tortured. Not everyone with a flag on their lapel condones torture. Not everyone who wears the flag on their lapel even knows the medicine exists. Kinda harsh dont you think, AFW.

I did say "who authorized torture" if you read my post for what it actually says instead of what you want to believe it says. And yes, I wuv you too.

And a clock that loses one second a day is right once every 118 years. That sounds more like McCain.

Really good observation... Can I use that one?

You might want to check the math.

Uh...did you watch the Republican presidential candidates debate? The only one who didn't endorse torture with a wink and a nod (big laughs from audience on that subject) was Romney. He supports "enhanced interrogation techniques". Oops, forgot McCain who flatly says we do NOT torture.

I'm pleased the subject is receiving such eloquent discussion.
This is one of this countries biggest embarrassments.


It's not torture if WE do it. Good lord!

Do you mean aside from the guy who supposed to the enforcer of our constitution being a total FUCKING LIAR and that's been asked to step aside by everyone int he government that had a higher S.A. T. score that Bush and Giuliani(yes, Giuliani has both a lower I.Q. and S.A.T. score than the Shrub.)

Calling torture an "embarassment" is an extreme misuse of the word and grossly minimizes what torture is. The Bush Administration is an embarassment to the United States of America. Torture is a inhumane crime that fundamentally violates every thing that America is based upon and is supposed to be. An America that tortures is no better than a Soviet Union or a Nazi Germany or a South American dicatatorship that tortures. It is a vile, repugnant act that no civilized nation should have anything to do with. The fact that America today tortures and sends people to other countries to be tortured (even when its leaders lie and say that America does not torture) is a whole lot more than an embarassment. It should be a national outrage but its not, and that says a lot of bad things about what America has become. Can you really say we are the "good guys" anymore? I cannot.