Puck

I recently wrote Rep. Cathy McMorris a letter urging her to take a stand against torture. While she agreed that “Without a doubt, torture is a deplorable, reprehensible act that should be condemned as morally indefensible” she refused to take a stand, adding that “Following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the President has declared several captured persons as ‘enemy combatants,’ thus not entitled to all of the rights outlined in the Geneva Conventions.” Worse, she adds that this gives the President the power to “use force against those… persons he determines were responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.”
Never mind the lies upon which the so-called war on terror is premised; I did not write McMorris challenging the President’s lies. Rather, I urged her to take a moral stand against the Administration’s use of torture. Here is my response to McMorris.
“You should be ashamed of the response you’ve provided me here. Are you not capable of thinking for yourself? Or must you parrot George W. Bush at every turn, no matter how immoral or illegal that turn?
I had thought that at least on that matter of torture you might stand up and have yourself counted among those who strive for justice–not to mention human decency. That Bush and the Supreme Court say certain persons are beyond the reach of international law make it even more imperative that every American act for the patriotic cause of defending international law.
If you have no children in the line of fire, if you have no children who might be captured and tortured, then at least try to imagine the situation of those who do, at least try to muster the ounce of compassion it takes to put yourself in the shoes of an American who is tortured because “they do it.” Better, try to imagine a world in which the United States does what it claims to do, namely, provide moral leadership.
Moral leadership is impossible while we continue to torture–whether it is in prisons under U.S. control in Cuba, Afghanistan or Iraq or by means of rendition to countries in need of precisely such leadership. As John McCain recently said, in support of the anti-terrorism resolution overwhelmingly passed by the Senate, torture is not about them: “this is about who we are.”
Please write McMorris, as well as your own Representative, and tell them you want them to take a firm stand against the use of torture.