11:01 p.m., Nov. 4, 2003. Detainee with bag over head, standing on box with wires attached. All caption information is taken directly from U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. This is one of Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick’s photographs of the prisoner nicknamed Gilligan and later correctly identified as Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh. (photo from U.S. Government [public domain] via Wikimedia Commons)

One Nation Under Torture

I love this country. I love the principles it was founded on, I love the good it can do when it sets its mind to it, and I love the beacon of freedom it has been to the world for generations.

But I hate those times when it not only fails to live up to its principles, but instead uses its massive power for evil. (And let me clear — if I could find words stronger than “hate” and “evil” I would use them.)

Anyone who knows our nation’s history can certainly point out times when we lived down to the basest instincts of humankind. The KKK, the Japanese internment, the Tuskegee syphilis study — all of these are well-known examples of the United States at its worst.

“If these are so well-known then, Bruce, why do you feel the need to write this essay today?”

Because a story broke yesterday that then triggered my memories of another such story, both of which make me furious.

From CNN:

A report by Human Rights Watch and Central American rights group Cristosal alleges that dozens of Venezuelans deported from the United States to a Salvadoran prison earlier this year were subjected to torture and other serious abuses including sexual violence.

The report released Wednesday includes interviews with 40 of the 252 Venezuelans who were sent to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot). They describe being beaten by guards, with some being taken to solitary confinement as punishment for protesting, and others being driven to the brink of suicide.

And from the author of the report, speaking to Democracy Now:

NOAH BULLOCK: People were subjected to beatings almost daily. Upon arrival, they were beaten. When they asked for food and water, they were beaten. When they asked for medical care, on the way to the clinic, they were beaten. They were often denied food, water, clothing, basic hygiene as a tool of punishment or reprisals. And in the case of the report, we also showed how the Venezuelans resisted and protested the beatings but then were subjected again to more beatings. There was a punishment cell called The Island in their module, a tiny space, a solitary confinement cell where they were taken and beaten regularly.

They would be deprived for hours of food and water, and some cases, days. And even sadly, we documented cases of sexual abuse. And it’s important to note that the testimonies were consistent across 40 different individuals who gave testimonies. We were able to document and corroborate their testimonies with photographic evidence that was assessed by independent forensic experts.

Here is what was so infuriating about this: The Trump administration knew about these practices, about the beatings and the torture — and they sent people there anyway. They didn’t care about the torture, they didn’t care about the sexual abuse; all they cared about was demonstrating their power to make someone’s life a living hell.

And what did this episode remind me of? Abu Ghraib.

For those who don’t know — or who have conveniently blocked it out of their memory — this isn’t the first time that the United States has committed torture. It also isn’t the first time that the use of torture has been approved at the highest levels of our government.

Look at that picture at the top of this essay. Recognize that? It is a picture of an “enemy combatant” being tortured at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The man’s name is Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh, but he became widely known simply as the “Hooded Man.” If you look closely, you can see the wires going to his fingers, which were used to give him electrical shocks.

As horrific as that picture is, it is by no means the worst actions by U.S. soldiers against their prisoners. I won’t go into any more detail; if you want to learn more, you can read the Wikipedia article, which contains not only descriptions of the abuse but also pictures.

All of this makes me angry. But what makes me completely enraged is the fact that the persons who approved and implemented this torture were never punished. And they won’t be.

Sure, some lower-level perpetrators were punished; some were removed from duty, some were dishonorably discharged, and few actually went to prison.

But the military higher-ups, who knew about the torture and approved it? Were they punished in any way? What about Alberto Gonzalez, who offered his lawyerly opinion that none of these prisoners were covered by the Geneva Conventiions? What about Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who authorized the use of “enhanced interrogations” in writing? And what about President Bush, who allegedly issued an executive order also authorizing the use of torture? Did any of these people face charges for their actions?

You know the answer — of course not. The powerful skated, as usual.

And today? Do you think that Trump, or Bondi, or any of the many persons involved in sending these prisoners to be tortured will face any repercussions, much less any criminal charges? I certainly don’t.

No, once again, we will “look forward and not backward,” as President Obama said in response to Abu Ghraib. We will tell ourselves these are “isolated incidents” and not part of the “American story.”

But they ARE part of our story. They show what happens when power is not restrained by either personal morals or corporate outrage. They show that, as much as we want to believe otherwise, there are times when our nation lives down to its worst impulses, instead of rising to its ideals. And they remind us that our “shining city on a hill” must be constantly renewed by leaders willing to both stand for the right and call out the wrong, no matter who is committing the acts that deserve calling out.

May such leaders rise up among us. And may we, as voters and citizens, put such leaders into office, and then demand that they both live up to our ideals and call us to do so as well.

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Originally published on Forward Kentucky.