On Rendition and Torture

Rendition involves secretly taking persons suspected of terrorist activities to a foreign country where torture is practiced. Instead of staining American soil with blood of potentially innocent parties, you do so on foreign land where such tactics are accepted interrogation techniques. Think of it as imprisonment without trial, no rights, and no due process. Then add torture to the process. What better way to do protect your human rights record than by giving the nod for another country to use whatever means necessary in the name of protecting more lives.

One's first thought is it might not be so bad for a savage terrorist. Then ask yourself - how are we sure this person is not innocent? Remember they have not been given any due process. It seems to me that Americans are above savage treatment. How can someone who approves of torture go to church every Sunday? You can not tell me Jesus would approve of torturing another human being. I remember the torture scene in The Deer Hunter where the North Vietnamese tortured an American POW. The scene made me furious - like I wanted to drop a nuke on North Vietnam. Well what kind of leader allows us stoop to that level?

It has been said that for every person tortured one hundred people rise up to perform acts of vengeance. You get an ever increasing cycle of violence. There is little evidence that torture actually provides useful information. There is no way two wrongs can make a right. I guess this stance makes me a bleeding heart liberal to those who shut their minds to the facts that this does happen.

Americans have prided ourselves on being world leaders and a society governed by the rule of law. Part of that was innocent until proven guilty. It was also based on the principles laid out in the Geneva Convention. The Clinton administration actually approved renditions. However, the presidency of El Supremo (Bush) and his band of party loyalist, have taken renditions to a higher lever. This administration thinks people have no rights when accused of anything. That’s quite ironic for an administration whose party platform was based on family values, morality and religion. (Personally I think he duped the voters.) Americans remain oblivious to these actions because they think it doesn’t effect them. As our rights are eroded away, it will slowly become easier for a future and smarter El Supremo to seize all of rights. At that point we will be powerless to stop them. At that point, the government starts accusing everyone and society turns into complete chaos. Torturing and killing people, guilty or not leads to anarchy.

Those who claim that rendition, torture and the abuse of basic human rights are necessary to protect our way of life are as wrong as the terrorists and suicide bombers.