It's Time for a Truth Commission on Torture by Torin Nelson (Also Leahy's call)

Senator Patrick Leahy call for a truth and reconciliation commission:

We have just emerged from a time when White House officials
often acted as if they were above the law. That was wrong and
must be fully exposed so it never happens again.

That is why Senator Patrick Leahy has proposed the idea of a
truth and reconciliation commission to investigate abuses during
the Bush-Cheney Administration. These abuses may include the use
of torture, warrantless wiretapping, extraordinary rendition,
and executive override of laws.

Rather than vengeance, we need a fair-minded pursuit of what
actually happened. The best way to move forward is getting to
the truth, finding out what happened, so we can make sure it
does not happen again.

Please join me by signing Senator Leahy's online petition at
here -- urging Congress to consider establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to
investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration's abuses.

Or, click the link below:
here
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Do You Want the Truth on Torture?

Join our Facebook group in support of creating a truth commission to investigate torture: here

Last night, in his first White House primetime press conference, President Obama was asked about establishing a truth commission on torture. In responding, President Obama affirmed his commitment to end torture but he said that the best way to do so was only by "looking forward."

Though I have a great deal of respect for the actions the President took to close Guantanamo Bay and secret CIA detention facilities, I believe we need to fully investigate what went wrong in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in order to ensure that these sorts of abuses do not take place again.

With Human Rights First, I have started a group on Facebook to show support for creating a truth commission to investigate torture. If you have a Facebook account, please join.

A truth commission can get to the bottom of questions that linger in the public debate such as:

* How useful have so-called "enhanced" interrogation techniques been to U.S. forces?
* What have the costs been in strategic terms to the U.S. due to the use of these techniques?
* What policies and procedures were changed to allow for the use of torture?

To date, the United States has not conducted a full investigation into the use of torture by U.S. forces and security agencies. No one has stepped back to try and see the full picture, and to calculate the losses — in moral authority and American lives — of our national detour to the dark side.

Investigations have been conducted within agencies, rather than across them. Many have been hampered by a lack of authority and a lack of credibility. If we are truly going to fix this problem, we first need to have a full understanding of what went wrong.

If the commission were able to do its work effectively, and present its findings publicly, it could effectively end the debate over the use of torture in this country.

We established a Facebook group to provide a place where people can show support for a truth commission on torture. We also believe that the page will provide a chance for individuals to post their views on why this commission will — or might not — be in the best interests of the country. Please join the group and feel free to post a comment.

Right now the country is divided over the use of abusive interrogation techniques. Support for torture lingers. And some believe, as former Vice President Dick Cheney recently warned, that a future terror attack on America will be President Obama's "responsibility" because he took action to end some of President Bush's detention and interrogation policies.

In determining how "effective" torture may have been, the commission will have to also consider the strategic consequences of employing techniques that are, to quote Senator John McCain, "un-American." It ought to be possible to conduct a sophisticated cost-benefit analysis that examines the unintended consequences related to our actions. We know, for example, that Abu Ghraib was a boon to Al Qaeda recruiting. How much does the use of these "tools" undermine our efforts?

In order for this commission to be successful it must be made up of members with unimpeachable integrity who do not have a point to prove. It also must be armed with subpoena power. This commission must have the power — and the political will — to follow this story wherever it goes.

This is too important to leave half-finished. Though the President has taken action that will make us safer, questions linger that need to be answered.

Our country's greatness is supported by our willingness to take a serious and thorough look at our mistakes. While it may be unpleasant, not doing so would compound the error, and increase the chances that it will be repeated. If we do not take action the public debate over the use of these techniques will continue to surface. Our allies and our enemies will see us as a hypocritical nation that only lives up to its ideals when it is convenient. And future generations will look back and wonder why we looked the mistakes of the past square in the eye and blinked.

Torin Nelson is the President of the Society for Professional Human Intelligence. He is a sixteen-year veteran interrogator and Human Intelligence specialist. Among other locations he has served at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.