{"id":6678,"date":"2014-12-12T00:00:27","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T07:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/?p=6678"},"modified":"2014-12-12T00:00:27","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T07:00:27","slug":"one-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/12\/one-more\/","title":{"rendered":"One More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Noah Millman of The American Conservative<\/em> has a slightly different take<\/a> from Jim Wright’s on the motivations behind the American torture program:<\/p>\n

I believe that our reasons [for torturing detainees] were far less rational [than the reasons of the Nazi or Soviet regimes].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written before<\/a> about the overwhelming fear that afflicted the country in the wake of 9-11, and how, perversely, exaggerating the severity of the threat from al Qaeda helped address that fear, because it made it acceptable to contemplate more extreme actions in response. If al Qaeda was really just a band of lunatics who got lucky, then 3,000 died because, well, because that\u2019s the kind of thing that can happen. If al Qaeda was the leading edge of a worldwide Islamo-fascist movement with the real potential to destroy the West, then we would be justified in nuking Mecca in response. Next to that kind of response, torture seems moderate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Willingness to torture became, first within elite government and opinion-making circles, then in the culture generally<\/a>, and finally as a partisan GOP talking point<\/a>, a litmus test of seriousness with respect to the fight against terrorism. That \u2013 proving one\u2019s seriousness in the fight \u2013 was its primary purpose from the beginning, in my view. It was only secondarily about extracting intelligence. It certainly wasn\u2019t about instilling fear or extracting false confessions \u2013 these would not have served American purposes. It was never about \u201cthem\u201d at all. It was about us. It was our psychological security blanket, our best evidence that we were \u201call-in\u201d in this war, the thing that proved to us that we were fierce enough to win.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, being down with a little of the old ultra-violence was the same difference as the stupid shit teenage boys to convince each other — and themselves — that they’re real men<\/em>. You know, a little grab-ass when you’re getting pumped up for the big game. Two for flinchin’. Holding your hand over a lighter to demonstrate how tough you are. To put it more crassly, measuring each other’s dicks<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I wish this line of thought didn’t sound so plausible, because I think I prefer good old-fashioned bloodlust as an explanation than this… puerile macho bullshit. “Proving one’s seriousness.” God. That’s<\/em> a really good reason for shredding the agreed-upon standards of civilization and honor.<\/p>\n

Look, I know four blog posts in a row on the same thing is tiresome. And I know this isn’t a pleasant subject, especially for people who only come here to read about pop culture or a warm-and-fuzzy nostalgia piece, so I apologize for belaboring the point. But this issue is hugely important to me. And hugely traumatic. Because it cuts the heart out of my identity as an American. Despite having been told for years that I “hate America” because I dare to criticize its flaws, I’ve nevertheless clung to one central ideal: that America is basically a decent<\/em> country, and Americans are basically decent<\/em> people. That we are the good guys<\/em>. Or at least we try<\/em> to be. In spite of our tendency to meddle in the affairs of others, in spite of our regrettable history of genocide and slavery, the overall arc of our history, as I’ve always understood it, has been one of gradual progress toward justice, equality, and greater dignity — greater humanity<\/em> — for everyone. It hasn’t been a smooth arc, to be sure. It’s stuttered at times, slowed to a crawl, sometimes even appeared to drift backwards. <\/em>I know there have been abominable things in our past — blankets infested with smallpox and Jim Crow and the My Lai massacre <\/a>— but I have always believed these were aberrations. That, at its core<\/em>, in our institutions and our ideals, this country was good,<\/em> and striving to be better. <\/em>And that there are some things the good guys just do not do.<\/em> Some lines that they simply do not cross.<\/p>\n

So to learn that Americans did things to human beings in U.S. custody that the Gestapo would’ve been all too familiar with, things that we would completely lose our shit over if they were done to Americans<\/em>… to learn that this activity was not perpetrated by some rogue agents but was part of a defined, sanctioned<\/em> government program… to learn that fully a quarter of the people subjected to this treatment were innocent, <\/em>and that some of them were in fact CIA assets… <\/em>well, let’s just say it’s pretty disillusioning. Of all the bullshit things America has done since 9\/11 in the name of “security,” this is the one that simply cannot be excused. Or forgiven.<\/p>\n

I am sickened<\/em> by what the CIA did in our name. I am depressed that there will likely be no consequences for those who planned, approved, and carried out this program of horror. But the thing that really<\/em> has me reeling, that fills me with impotent anger and disgust and sorrow, is that a hell of a lot of my fellow Americans… are perfectly fine with it. They either don’t care what the CIA interrogators did or they outright approve<\/em> of it. Judging from the comments I’ve been reading (I know, I know! Never<\/em> read the comments!), a lot of my countrymen wish the program was still going on. These are dark times, they say… unsavory things have to be done to keep us safe, they say… you pussy bleeding-heart liberals have no idea what goes on in the real<\/em> world, they say… those guys<\/em> behead people, they say, so what’s wrong with giving them a little “discomfort?” (Um… because it’s wrong<\/em>?) I just don’t understand this perspective. I just don’t<\/em>. Once again, it’s like I’m wandering around Bizarro World, or the Mirror Universe<\/a>, or wherever the hell I ended up when I passed through that wormhole. Because the America those people are so eager to defend by any<\/em> means necessary certainly isn’t an America I<\/em> recognize.<\/p>\n

But enough. I’m not going to change anybody’s mind with my screeds, assuming anyone is even reading this. You either think the torture program was immoral or you don’t, and we all know nothing is going to come of the report anyhow. A week from now, there will be some other outrage eating up all the bandwidth, and none of the stony-faced men — and I use that word very lightly — who planned and carried out this barbarism are going to face any punishment for it. But America will never again have the moral high ground in our dealings with other nations. We have forfeited our claim to being any more civilized — or rather, any less barbaric<\/em> — than any place else. And I for one will never stop mourning the loss of the America I thought I knew.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noah Millman of The American Conservative has a slightly different take from Jim Wright’s on the motivations behind the American torture program: I believe that our reasons [for torturing detainees] were far less rational [than the reasons of the Nazi or Soviet regimes].   I\u2019ve written before about the overwhelming fear that afflicted the country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6678\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}