The Bush Administration Torture Policy: Origins and Consequences

Another technique, waterboarding, had been used at least as early as 1622 by the Dutch as economical way to torture British merchants in the East Indies.42 The memo authorized the use of waterboarding for twenty-minute durations for twenty- to forty-second intervals, and limited the use all techniques so as to not exacerbate in any way the injuries Zubayda had already suffered.43 The authors also interpreted waterboarding as a procedure that is applied in a way so that the “individual does not breathe any water into his lungs” and that the water “is usually applied from a canteen cup or watering can” at a height of “twelve to twenty-four inches.”44

In a side-by-side comparison, it easy is to see discrepancies between the authorization of the techniques in the August 1^st classified memo and their actual use on War on Terror detainees. Though techniques in the memo appear to be approved in isolation, there were in many instances utilized in combination with other techniques that may or may not have been authorized. In addition, techniques that were utilized in isolation may have been used in ways that expanded beyond the limits of their authorization. In at least one instance, forced standing was combined with another later authorized technique, the cold cell, and contributed to the death of a detainee at the “Salt Pit,” a secret prison in Afghanistan.45 On another occasion, one prisoner discussed being in a stress position for about 7 or 8 hours, beyond a limit of four that had been established in September 2003.46

One could also look at the technique that dominated public discussion about torture, waterboarding, and find applications of the technique that seem to go well beyond what was authorized in the 2002 memo. In a 2004 memo that was released in 2009, it was disclosed that Abu Zubayda and Khalid Sheikh Muhammad had been waterboarded a collect 266 times.47 More recently, it has been reported that interrogators went to extreme lengths to push detainees to their physical limits. Detainees were fed a liquid diet to ensure they did not choke on their own vomit during a waterboarding session. Interrogators also switched to saline solution rather than simple water, because:

the CIA forced such massive quantities of water into the mouths and noses of detainees, prisoners inevitably swallowed huge amounts of liquid–enough to conceivably kill them from hyponatremia, a rare but deadly condition in which ingesting enormous quantities of water results in a dangerously low concentration of sodium in the blood.48

Even though these accounts provide a limited overview of some of the failures to apply the authorized interrogation methods within the approved guidelines, the are on some level indicative of the overall trajectory the use of these techniques followed, becoming increasingly brutal overtime.

Conclusion

Of course, there is at least one final question that must be asked: where do we go from here? There are a number of proposals on the table, and most of the legal scholars and journalists who have sought to cover the totality of the administration’s torture policy would agree that there a number of questions that remained unresolved. While the accounts and government documents that detail the program provide us with a comprehensive view of much of the internal struggle over the torture policy, many of the accounts of detainee treatment come from the detainees themselves. We know through various inside sources that anytime the authorized techniques were used by interrogators their use first had to be approved by senior administration officials. That in itself provides a paper trail, but there are can be no question there are countless other documents that would piece together the larger story. Additionally, the interrogation program was one carried out by the two most clandestine agencies in the United States government, the CIA and the Defense Department, who have a vested interest in secrecy. Combined with the heavy utilization of secrecy by the administration during this time, we can be assured that there is much we do not know about the use of torture that occurred in the name of American citizens.

At a minimum, we need to shed light on this dark chapter in American history. The process can take many forms. There are those who believe passionately that the authorization and use of torture violate international and domestic law, and that those responsible for breaking the law ought to be prosecuted. Others believe that the uncovering of truth will never occur in the court system, where defendants only have an incentive to keep concealed the evidence of their own guilt, and favor a commission-style investigation—complete with subpoena power—instead. Whichever method is the best choice is of course up for debate, but there is no denying that if there is going to be some pursuit of transparency and to a lesser degree accountability for these acts, then the most senior officials in our government need to make the push. Without senior governmental officials, there is no way Americans will get the full story about some of the most despicable and brutal acts ever carried out in their name.

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[1] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Became a War on American Ideals (New York, NY: Doubleday Publishing Group, 2008). 140-142.

[2] Ibid.,157, 162-164.

[3]Ibid., 166.

[4] David Cole, The Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable (New York, NY: Oneworld Publications, 2009). 5.

[5]Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 156.

[6]Ibid., 144.

[7] David Cole, The Torture Memos. 270-271.

[8] Ibid., 5-6.

[9] Philippe Sands, Torture Team. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008; 31.

[10] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 122.

[11] Philippe Sands, Torture Team. 35.

[12] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 121-122.

[13] Philippe Sands, Torture Team. 35.

[14] Frontline, "Frontline: the torutre question: interviews: bradford berenson | PBS," Frontline, July 14, 2005, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/interviews/berenson.html (accessed April 13, 2010).

[15] John Yoo and Robert J. Delahunty, "Application of Treaties and Laws to al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees," Draft Memorandum, Office of Legal Counsel, Justice Department (Washington, DC, January 9, 2002). 1.

[16] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 123.

[17] Ibid., 122-123.

[18] Ibid., 123.

[19] Alberto Gonzales, "Decision RE Application of the Geneva Convetions on Prisoners of War to the Conflict with al Qaeda and the Taliban," Memorandum, White House Office, Executive Office of the President (Washignton, DC, January 25, 2002). 2.

[20] George W. Bush, "Humane Treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees," Memorandum, Executive Office of the President (Washington, DC, February 7, 2002). 1-2.

[21] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 123.

[22] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 150.

[23] Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007). 96-97.

[24] David Cole, The Torture Memos. 41.

[25] Ibid. 107.

[26] Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency.144.

[27]  Ibid., 142.

[28]  Ibid.,144.

[29] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 152.

[30]  Ibid., 152.

[31] George W. Bush, "President Bush's Speech on Terrorism ," TheNewYorkTimes, September 6, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/06/washington/06bush_transcript.html?pagewanted=all (accessed April 1, 2010).

[32] David Cole, TheTorture Memos. 279.

[33] Torturing Democracy, "Martin Leiderman," Torturing Democracy, November 7, 2007, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/torturingdemocracy/interviews/martin_lederman.html (accessed April 11, 2010).

[34] Jane Mayer, The Dark Side. 154.

[35] George W. Bush, "Humane Treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees.” 2.

[36] Darius Rejali, Torture and Democracy (Princeton, NJ: Princton Universty Press, 2007). 454.

[37] Ibid. 456.

[38] Ibid., 457.

[39] Ibid., 317, 320.

[40] Ibid., 316.

[41] David Cole, The Torture Memos. 121.

[42] Darius Rejali, Torture and Democracy. 281.

[43] David Cole, The Torture Memos. 110-111.

[44] Ibid., 109.

[45] Darius Rejali, Torture and Democracy. 500.

[46] Alfred McCoy, A Question of Torture (New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2006). 134-135.

[47] David Cole, The Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable. 271.

[48] Mark Benjamin, "Waterboarding for Dummies," Salon, March 9, 2010, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/03/09/waterboarding_for_dummies/index.html?source=rss&aim=/news/feature (accessed April 11, 2010).