Senator Durbin Defends America's Values
By James J. Zogby
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 27 June 2005
In recent weeks, controversy has mounted over the treatment meted out to detainees
at US facilities in Guantánamo Bay and other locations around the world.
In an effort to deal with the criticism and change the subject, the White House
and their allies have responded, blasting critics like Amnesty International,
charging that their comments damage the image of the US, endanger American troops
and harm the war on terrorism.
Watching the right wing's attack machine go into motion is really quite a spectacle.
It targets its victim, strikes, and then launches into a multimedia, multi-day
assault. Every medium is used: the White House comments, Senators and Congressmen
issue releases. And then Fox News, radio talk shows, the Washington Times, web
logs and web sites - all carry the "story" and add to it. The initial
attack is then echoed and magnified. The goal is to bury the target and silence
critics with overwhelming force. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) is their most
recent target. Last week on the Senate floor, Durbin, who in the past has successfully
led the effort to pass anti-torture legislation, read aloud a statement by an
FBI agent describing the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. He said
that the techniques described by the agent called to mind those used by repressive
regimes, including the Nazis and Soviets.
The response was quick and harsh, utilizing all the media noted above. Prominent
among the attackers were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist. Gingrich said that Durbin's comments appeared on Al-Jazeera,
and that, "You cannot have a public official quoted throughout the world
by our enemies describing the US in these terms - it puts every young American
in uniform at risk."
Frist went further, mischaracterizing Durbin's remarks, alleging that his statement
was "anti-American and only fuels the animus of our enemies ... It is this
type of language that they use to recruit others to be car bombers, suicide
attackers, hostage takers, and full-fledged jihadists." The assault went
on for a week, frightening many from coming to Durbin's defense.
Abandoned by his allies, Durbin went to the Senate floor and apologized for
the inept historical references. But on the critical issues of torture and detention,
he firmly stood his ground.
The rhetorical excesses of Gingrich and Frist are dead wrong. What damages
the US image and endangers us are not comments by Durbin and other critics of
Guantánamo Bay. It is the Bush administration's detention and interrogation
policies. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld explicitly authorized the use of abusive
interrogation techniques at Guantánamo Bay. FBI agents and the Red Cross
both concluded that the use of these techniques at Guantánamo constituted
"torture." In the past, the United States has always condemned the
use of such techniques. Now, we apparently approve of them.
According to polls we have conducted, Arab attitudes toward the United States
have dropped to dangerously low levels. The treatment of Arab and Muslim prisoners
is a big reason, rivaling regional disapproval of US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and the war in Iraq.
Buttressing these poll results are my experiences in the Arab world, where
I travel frequently. In conversations with opinion leaders and average citizens
across the region, they frequently note their deep disappointment with current
state of our human rights policy. Many Arab reformers tell me that our behavior
now mimics that of their own governments.
President Bush has linked the spread of democracy to the war on terrorism.
Unfortunately, the indefinite secret detention and highly coercive interrogation
of Arab and Muslim detainees in Guantánamo Bay and other locations has
harmed our ability to advocate credibly for democratic reforms. Indeed, some
governments now point to American practices to justify their own human rights
abuses.
President Bush has suggested that anti-democratic practices and human rights
abuses promote instability and create the conditions that can breed terrorism.
Democratic reformers and human rights activists used to look to the US as an
exemplar, as the city on a hill. Now they are dismissed by their countrymen
when they point to the American experience.
Once we set a high standard for the world; now we have lowered the bar. The
damage to our image, to the values we have sought to project, and to our ability
to deal more effectively with root causes of terror have been profound. Efforts
to silence debate and the attacks against courageous opponents of torture like
Dick Durbin are wrong and send the wrong message to our world. Comments by Durbin
and other critics of torture help, not hurt, the US image in the Middle East.
People there are already outraged about Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. The
fact that Durbin and others have demonstrated the courage to speak out and challenge
these shameful and abusive practices demonstrates to the Arab world that not
all Americans support what the world knows we have done. As their criticism
makes clear, there are still Americans who hold high the values we call on others
to emulate. At a time when we're trying to spread democracy, Durbin and other
critics show people in the Arab world how a democracy works. The good new is
that not only has Durbin not been silenced, but the controversy about Guantánamo
and Abu Ghraib and the treatment of detainees, in general, is growing and will
not be stopped until changes are made.
Dr. James Zogby is the President of the Arab American Institute. His column will appear weekly in t r u t h o u t.
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