A torturous path was followed

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

Torture.

Now there’s an ugly word, one that conjures shivers along the spine.

It is a word to despise. It speaks to brutality and is a practice born from hatred and fear.

Why even write about such a topic?

Well, because we are at war and have been since Sept. 11, 2001, when our peaceful nation was attacked by fanatics. Part of our quick response was with methods now defined as torture and politicized by those whose criticism has been more condemnatory than sound.

I am not going to defend or denounce the practice of water boarding or any other egregious method of extracting serviceable information necessary for survival, but I will provide a few things to think about within a realistic context of circumstance. You can take it from there.

Torture is ancient.

If you want a clear view of the depravity of mankind, then I suggest you read about the agony put upon Jesus of Nazareth, the gentlest and most innocent of souls.

You have heard of the Spanish Inquisition and the horrors experienced by those accused of heresy.

Medieval times were truly the age of darkness when transgressors were skinned, burned, boiled, and drawn and quartered with a regularity provoked by unlimited power rather than justice.

During World War II, there were unspeakable crimes provoked by race, political inclination, and sexual preference. Starvation could be torture as was the tearing apart of families, the extinction of homes, the destruction of all notions of sympathy and humanity.

All war is an obscenity, but deliberate brutality against innocents victimized by political extremism is the cruelest form of human failure.

Torture defies defense and paralyzes forgiveness. It exposes cruelty in its basest form. Read about any conflict, and you will learn horror is nothing new.

Having said those things, I realize idealism will inevitably collide with reality. That’s what happened following 9-11.

When the Twin Towers came down on that fateful day, George W. Bush, as president, was charged with his most important duty: Defending America. He authorized extraordinary methods to make that happen. Water boarding was among the techniques sanctioned. Urgency propelled.

It is easy for all not in Bush’s position to judge his decision, but we must remember the exigency of the time. No one — NO ONE — knew whether other attacks might follow, where they could occur, or their severity.

The likelihood of other events was very real. Three thousand had already died, and the president was prepared to do what was necessary to prevent another event like the one just witnessed. To suggest he relished his decision is absurd.

A second devastating day was prevented. At the time Americans were grateful.

Patriotism rode high for a while, but with water boarding came political opportunity. It was too much for the ethically acrobatic.

For the Left, now safe, Bush became a political yardstick by which to measure the depth of one’s indignity.

So you know, Nancy Pelosi, a Bush critic, was informed of the methods being used to extract information. She was silent at the time. Senator Feinstein, who knew too, was mute until recently. So it goes.

Then Senator Hillary Clinton was a declared patriot in Bush’s corner until the winds of war shifted.

Then, she did what liberals do so skillfully: She deftly ended her support and became a critic instead of a leader.

A half dozen prisoners were water boarded, not hundreds. The process was carefully monitored with doctors at hand. No one died. One hears little about these points though true.

Authorities were dealing with hardcore fanatics who knew information we needed to counter further attacks. Making nice would have gotten nothing. These are the people Obama is now releasing from Gitmo routinely.

The argument has been made water boarding is ineffective in extracting information. Even Senator John McCain, who knows much about torture due to his experience as a North Vietnam POW, says it doesn’t work, but is he right without qualification?

What if it doesn’t work on eight out of 10, but works on the remaining two? Could that not be called a success if lives are saved and destruction prevented?

Those who conducted the water boarding claim it worked and provide examples and name names. They are adamant on this point.

Understand the Left wants to leverage the water-boarding controversy into condemnation of George W. Bush and, by association, the Republican Party, whom they hope to defeat in 2016.

Torture has become political, a weapon of another sort. Disassociation is permitted now that history has resumed its practice of making memories short and once overlooked conduct inexcusable.

Larry W. Anderson admires idealism but chooses to live in the real world.