McCain: CIA Torture ‘Stained Our National Honor’
Sen. John McCain speaks more authoritatively about torture than most people, because he endured torture as a POW. Here’s what he said today after the release of the Senate’s torture report over the objections of many Republicans, ex-Bush administration officials, and other apologists for America’s experiment with Nazi, Soviet, and North Korean interrogation methods:
“[W]hat the advocates of harsh and cruel interrogation methods have never established is that we couldn’t have gathered as good or more reliable intelligence from using humane methods. … But in the end, torture’s failure to serve its intended purpose isn’t the main reason to oppose its use. 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.”
America isn’t now, and never has been, a perfect country; but we should aspire to become a better country. We can’t change the fact that American history is indelibly linked to slavery, conquest and genocide of original populations, and now torture. But we can repudiate those responsible, and refute their claims that these practices made our country better, safer, or more prosperous. They didn’t; they demeaned and lessened us all. And although Senator McCain is a Republican (God knows why?), I salute him for bucking his party’s line and speaking forthrightly on this issue. He’s right and they’re wrong, and he has reminded us that it matters which side you choose when fundamental moral values are at stake.