9/11 changed the perceptions and practices of the American military regarding the security of the United States homeland. Actually, it changed the perception of politicians and the public even more. The shield provided by two oceans no longer protected America from the reality of the attacks that had launched wars on the European continent and warfare throughout the remainder of the world. People watched Americans jumping out of the windows of the World Trade Center choosing death by falling over death by fire and realized that if a terror organization based in Afghanistan could bring down these iconic buildings in New York City no one was safe.
It
is hard for a citizen outside the government and the military to view the stormy
debate over the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Executive Summary of its Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation
Program without getting lost somewhere between 9/11/01 and today. It has been as
the song states; "a long and winding road," and there have been many political
and military considerations along the way including many that will remain
beyond public access irrespective of the 6.3 million pages of documents
reviewed by the staff of Committee Chair Diane Feinstein in the development of the
Report.
There are things that were done to terrorists, prospective terrorists and individuals captured by the US and allies who looked as though, acted as though, cooperated with or were thought to have cooperated with terrorists that seem at first blush and maybe last blush to be beyond the pale: At the top of the mountain of enhanced interrogation stands Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who the report says was waterboarded 183 times during the month of March 2003. KSM has been found responsible for the 9/11 attack and admitted guilt in an incredible number of additional terrorist actions under enhanced interrogation. There are questions of guilt and questions in search of actionable intelligence that can affect/prevent ongoing terrorist activities. Another was Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri who is believed to have masterminded the bombing of the USS Cole. He went on a hunger strike during his incarceration and was subjected to a process of rectal feeding which is not utilized by any medical facility in America as a means to feed a non-responsive or violent psychiatric patient. Muhammad Rahim, believed to be an aid to Osama Bin Laden was captured and turned over to the CIA in July 2007. He was subjected to long periods, (days at a time of sleep deprivation), while he was shackled diapered to the ceiling.
What comes to mind are the dark photos from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq with Ali Shallal al-Qaisi hooded and wired standing on a box, Lynndie England holding a leash attached to a naked prisoner, known as "Gus", who is lying on the floor, and the images of torture from Zero Dark Thirty that will be connected in the wiring of our brains forever to the search, identification, attack by Navy Seals and killing of Osama Bin Laden.
How does one deconstruct a process that has taken a dozen years and evaluate its blackest moments legally and morally in reference to a threat that literally overwhelmed the United States and the world on 9/11 even as thousands of innocent victims were murdered? I believe the fundamental answer is different for Republicans and Democrats because of who was in charge, who made the decisions and who was elected President in 2008 to get us out of two wars. Of course it is far more complicated than two political parties. Many people believe that America lost its innocence on the day it watched the Twin Towers crumble to the ground.
There are voices that rise above the crowd to say no to torture led by John McCain who suffered terribly at the hands of the North Vietnamese: "The truth is a hard pill to swallow...the American people are entitled to it." And he acknowledged that violence against the U.S. from the "Muslim world" is "possible... perhaps likely" but argued that America's enemies "hardly need an excuse" to attack the nation, so the good done by the release of the report should trump any security concerns. During his comments, McCain referenced his own experience with torture and argued that it "produces more misleading information than actionable intelligence" and that "we can and we will" win the war on terrorism without such techniques.
"I have often said, and will always maintain, that this question isn't about our enemies; it's about us. It's about who we were, who we are and who we aspire to be. It's about how we represent ourselves to the world," he said. "When we fight to defend our security we fight also for an idea ... that all men are endowed by the Creator with inalienable rights." Comment by John McCain on CNN 12/9/14.
I agree with the Senator but believe that in 2001 we were confronted by Islamic terror on a scale unknown before the hijacking of four US jetliners and their use as missiles by al-Qaeda hitting the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a final site in Washington that was overcome by the passengers of Flight 93 who forced it to crash in Shanksville, PA.
A Fox news report carries the words and feelings of Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the intelligence committee:
"As we have both stated before, we are opposed to this study and believe it will present serious consequences for U.S. national security," they said. "Regardless of what one's opinions may be on these issues, the study by Senate Democrats is an ideologically motivated and distorted recounting of historical events. The fact that the CIA's Detention and Interrogation program developed significant intelligence that helped us identify and capture important al-Qa'ida terrorists, disrupt their ongoing plotting, and take down Osama Bin Ladin is incontrovertible. Claims included in this report that assert the contrary are simply wrong."
I will give the last word to Senator Diane Feinstein who is most responsible for the report and engendering its release:
"History will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say 'never again'," she said on the floor. "There may never be the right time to release this report.... But this report is too important to shelve indefinitely."
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