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The Cheney Archipelago

From today’s front-page Washington Post story by Dana Priest and Robin Wright:

Over the past year, Vice President Cheney has waged an intense and largely unpublicized campaign to stop Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department from imposing more restrictive rules on the handling of terrorist suspects, according to defense, state, intelligence and congressional officials. . . .

Just last week, Cheney showed up at a Republican senatorial luncheon to lobby lawmakers for a CIA exemption to an amendment by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would ban torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners. The exemption would cover the CIA’s covert “black sites” in several Eastern European democracies and other countries where key al Qaeda captives are being kept.

“Any nation that is party to the Geneva Conventions . . . is obligated under international law to investigate those who are alleged to be involved with the formulation of a policy of torture or with its carrying out.” —William Schulz, executive director, Amnesty International

“Tomorrow, after my death, certain people may decide to establish fascism, and the others may be cowardly or miserable enough to let them get away with it.  At that moment, fascism will be the truth of man, and so much the worse for us.” --Jean-Paul Sartre, public intellectual

“ .”—Christian conservatives

Posted by on 11/07 at 02:26 PM

  1. Once we shred the last vestiges of altruistic justification for defending our culture, we can degenerate to the much more useful, “We are us and they are not.” Once you get down to that level, policy decisions become much simpler.  Mirrors become more difficult to deal with, but policy gets easier.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  04:13 PM

  2. Michael,

    I had a hard time getting through this post, what with all those graphs from conservative Christians complaining about the country’s fascist policies in general, and its torture policies in particular.

    The next time, try to cut down on the cut and paste.

    Posted by Bulworth  on  11/07  at  04:20 PM

  3. Sorry about that, Bulworth.  I got carried away.

    And Njorl, can I propose “we are us” as the new national anthem?

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  04:23 PM

  4. "We don’t do torture, except for the torture we’ve previously done, and the torture that we may do in the future if the right situation presents itself, or just for the taste of it, Diet Coke!”

    Posted by norbizness  on  11/07  at  04:31 PM

  5. You have to wonder what the personal qualities may be that drive the man to get so focused on this enterprise.  Whatever they are, he has to be totally devoid of ruth.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  05:09 PM

  6. I write thus frankly to let our readers know that we realize that we are all involved, that we are not trying to place on the shoulders of others the heavy burdens of knowledge and responsibility and are not bearing them ourselves. This is the greatest of problems today, this problem of war and peace, and involves every man, woman and child in the country. It is a bigger problem by far than Senator McCarthy, than Guatemala, than Puerto Rico and the recession. We are one world and all men are brothers. We must pray to learn to love, to have faith in love.

    Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief; take away my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh; in thee have I hoped, let me never be confounded.

    Posted by Dorothy Day  on  11/07  at  05:17 PM

  7. Well, tcub, one important personal quality may be that his heart was secretly removed in August 2000, just after the Republican convention, and replaced with a black-bile-producing synthetic organ whose specific attributes are highly classified.

    And you wondered what all those “doctor’s” “visits” were about. . . .

    Posted by Michael  on  11/07  at  05:19 PM

  8. Only more proof that The Princess Bride was a prophecy of Bush and Cheney. Cheney is Count Rugen, the six-fingered, torture afficianado, creator of The Machine, which sucks life from its victims. Bush is the war-on-false-pretenses-starting Prince Humperdinck. Rugen proves to be a cold-hearted, fight-to-the-end bully; Humperdinck, a squealing coward.

    From the IMDB:

    [Rugen has invited Humperdinck to watch Westley being tortured]
    Prince Humperdinck: Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work. But I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.
    Count Rugen: Get some rest. If you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.

    Posted by Tompaul  on  11/07  at  05:48 PM

  9. So Bulworth is having a hard time with this post.  Me, I’m having a problem getting through some of the comments!  I’m going to have to start diagramming sentences as I read.

    Sorry, that was OT.  Over at dKos, the question of whether or not Cheney has become too great a liability for Bush has been raised.  Let’s say, just for fun, that all of this negative press about Cheney (including an editorial in the Boston Globe today) is not by accident but by Rovian design.  The problem then becomes this one:  what is worse, another 3 years of this nightmare in the WH, or a newly appointed VP who has the chance of running for pres in ‘08?

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  06:00 PM

  10. I still say, since cops in most areas are required to submit to a taser zap before they’re allowed to use the weapons, same should apply to anyone who advocates for or will be directly administering torture techniques:  it’s only fair that Cheney submit to his nads being electrocuted, or to being hung from a ceiling fan by his fingernails.  If he refuses, he should not be allowed to push for these measures to be used.

    Posted by teh l4m3  on  11/07  at  06:50 PM

  11. On the anthem tip: many years ago a friend of mine used to celebrate victories at the board game “Risk” by singing his all-purpose national hymn:

    Me, me,
    Forever me,
    Over you,
    Me.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  06:58 PM

  12. It’s good to see this is finally making some of the major news outlets in the states. Canada’s been talking about this for a week, as I noted in my blog:

    http://ancarett.com/?p=88

    Posted by Ancarett  on  11/07  at  07:14 PM

  13. Years ago in the midst of France’s brutal war in Algeria, Jean-Paul Sartre amonished the French intelligentsia:  “It is not right, my fellow-countrymen, you who know very well all the crimes committed in our names. It’s not at all right that you do not breath a word about them to anyone, not even your own soul, for fear of having to stand in judgement of yourself. I am willing to believe that at the beginning you did not realize what was happening; later, you doubted whether such things could be true; but now you know, and still you hold your tounges.”

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  07:40 PM

  14. Dick Cheney will be a fascinating subject for us historians some day (may it be sooner rather than later!). I say this not only because he has played important, and disturbing, roles in our nation’s history for more than three decades, but because he seems so mysterious even to many who know him well (e.g. the piece in the 10/31 New Yorker—not online I’m afraid—in which old-time conservative realist Brent Scowcroft expresses disgust at this administration’s neoconservative policies, but reserves surprise for Cheney, whom he felt really wasn’t a neo-con).

    Cheney makes an important cameo appearance in my current project.  In many ways I wish I had a better handle on him.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  07:43 PM

  15. What’s the matter with you guys?  Torture is only wrong when it happens to a latex prosthesis in a Mel Gibson movie.  Then it’s awful and horrific and a humbling reminder of how the latex prosthesis died for our sins. 

    But torturing real-live brown people who do NOT acknowledge the latex prosthesis as their personal saviour—that’s fine.  Try to keep it straight, okay?

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  07:48 PM

  16. As a long time reader but extremely infrequent comment writer, I feel compelled to raise an objection to this statement: “...where key al Qaeda captives are being kept.”

    I believe a more accurate statement would be, “...where ALLEGED key al Qaeda captives are being kept.”

    I tust NOTHING that comes out this fascist maladministration, absolutely NOTHING.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  07:58 PM

  17. We know that after 9/11, they screened “the Battle of Algiers” at the Pentagon.  We know now, it was not to understand terrorists, it was to practice torture with out calling it torture.  Where are our Sartres?  Unfortunately, we know where are our Camuses are.  Junior’s statement is that he is against torture but for what our means necessary and do not talk about our secret prisons or gulags.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  08:05 PM

  18. As a long time reader but extremely infrequent comment writer, I feel compelled to raise an objection to this statement: ”...where key al Qaeda captives are being kept.”

    I believe a more accurate statement would be, ”...where ALLEGED key al Qaeda captives are being kept.”

    Good point, Rebekah.  But to his credit, Dana Priest did address this in his November 2 story on the “black sites”:

    The CIA program’s original scope was to hide and interrogate the two dozen or so al Qaeda leaders believed to be directly responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, or who posed an imminent threat, or had knowledge of the larger al Qaeda network. But as the volume of leads pouring into
    the CTC from abroad increased, and the capacity of its paramilitary group to seize suspects grew, the CIA began apprehending more people whose intelligence value and links to terrorism were less certain, according to four current and former officials.

    The original standard for consigning suspects to the invisible universe was lowered or ignored, they said. “They’ve got many, many more who don’t reach any threshold,” one intelligence official said.

    Repeat, any threshold.  Any threshold at all.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  08:09 PM

  19. “Repeat, any threshold.  Any threshold at all.”

    Does this not, in fact, reinforce my point?  My objection was based on your casual reiteration of the Bush junta’s “frame”.  It’s clear that they lie repeatedly—why repeat their lies?

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  08:24 PM

  20. It reinforces your point, Rebekah, which is why I cited it.  Just for the record, though, I’m not guilty of any casual reiteration of the Bush junta’s frame.  The phrase “where key al Qaeda operatives are being kept” comes from the Post story, and I was simply pointing out that one of the authors of the article, Dana Priest, had in fact written a piece last week in which he quoted officials who cast serious doubt on whether “key operatives” are actually being detained at the black sites.

    Priest has been doing terrific work on this front for quite some time now.

    Posted by Michael  on  11/07  at  09:42 PM

  21. I humbly beg your forgiveness.  I misread your original post—failing to note that the wording to which I was objecting was a quote from the Post article, rather than your own.

    As good as demonstration as any as to why it is much better that I refrain from posting comments—I got carried away by my outrage, which (obviously) seriously interfered with my reading comprehension.

    Before I quietly slip away once more back into the shadows, I just want to say that I sincerely appreciate your patient responses—and I totally love your blog, which is always at the top of my daily online reading list.

    Chagrined, but ever your admirer,

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  10:15 PM

  22. No apologies necessary, Rebekah!  You quite usefully pointed out that the WaPo phrasing ceded a major point to the Cheney Administration—a point that Priest had had the good sense to challenge in his November 2 article.  For that, thanks!

    Posted by Michael  on  11/07  at  10:54 PM

  23. "it can’t happen here” (please sing as a member of the chorus)
    You can bet that Priest will find himself in the same proverbial doghouse as the following article from Doug Thompson at Capital Blue describes:

    “According to a printout from a computer controlled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice, I am an enemy of the state.

    The printout, shown to me recently by a friend who works for Justice, identifies me by a long, multi-digit number, lists my date of birth, place of birth, social security number and contains more than 100 pages documenting what the Bureau and the Bush Administration consider to be my threats to the security of the United States of America.”

    http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7624.shtml

    I want my printout; i bet the file on Michael and family will of course feature his upcoming book, and much of this blog.  John Perry Barlow would suggest that it would be naive of us to not think we are being fully monitored through our online activities.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  10:57 PM

  24. Ah Michael, don’t you know that JP was sexist, a communist dupe, wall-eyed, and is now decidedly not in. Besides he was allegedly French.

    Posted by  on  11/07  at  11:38 PM

  25. "Now look, boys, I ain’t much of a hand at makin’ speeches, but I got a pretty fair idea that something doggone important is goin’ on back there. And I got a fair idea the kinda personal emotions that some of you fellas may be thinkin’. Heck, I reckon you wouldn’t even be human bein’s if you didn’t have some pretty strong personal feelin’s about torture. I want you to remember one thing, the folks back home is a-countin’ on you and by golly, we ain’t about to let ‘em down. I tell you something else, if this thing turns out to be half as important as I figure it just might be, I’d say that you’re all in line for some important promotions and personal citations when this thing’s over with. That goes for ever’ last one of you regardless of your race, color or your creed.”

    Posted by Roxanne  on  11/08  at  12:20 AM

  26. Roxanne, why’d you stop before the best line?  “Now, let’s get this thing on the hump. We got some torturin’ to do.”

    Posted by  on  11/08  at  11:30 AM

  27. Hey, who said this was a “write your own caption” post?

    And why didn’t anyone tell me that Jean-Paul Sartre was French?  Do I have to look up everything?

    Posted by Michael  on  11/08  at  11:39 AM

  28. The word “hump” gives me the jeebees.

    Posted by Roxanne  on  11/08  at  12:04 PM

  29. If the NEA wasn’t watering down the 3Rs (republicanism, religionism, and I forget), people would come outta grammar school knowing who was French and who wasn’t. 

    Keep them damn bears away.

    Posted by  on  11/08  at  08:42 PM

  30. ``The CIA program’s original scope was to hide and interrogate the two dozen or so al Qaeda leaders believed to be directly responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks’’

    Now that they have tortured those folks, they can’t be put on trial for the 9/11 conspiracy, at least not in a U.S. state or federal court room---evidence gained as a consequence of torture being inadmissable. They could try a closed military tribunal, but that would likely draw protests from the 9/11 victims kith and kin, as well it should. I wonder if those folks have figured out yet that they will never see Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the others brought to justice (as, at least, it used to be in this country).

    Posted by Paul Lyon  on  11/09  at  06:17 AM

  31. Michael, Dana Priest is a woman. 

    Trivia gleaned from a Brian Lamb C-SPAN interview with her years ago: Her name is ‘Danna’ not ‘Dayna’.  Her dad was hoping for a boy, who he’d planned to name Dan.

    Posted by  on  11/09  at  09:13 PM

  32. Dang, I wondered about that, Nell.  I thought, “hmm, Dana as in Dana Delany or Dana as in Dana Gioia?” And then I guessed wrong.

    Anyway, she rocks.

    Posted by Michael  on  11/09  at  11:42 PM

  33. Rock she does.  Here’s her WaPo online chat after the secret prison article.

    Posted by  on  11/11  at  10:40 PM

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