40+ Retired Flag and General Officers Urge Senate Support for Ending Torture

[kpete]

40+ Retired Flag and General Officers Urge Senate Support for Ending Torture in Advance of Wednesday Vote



WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Forty-three retired
generals and admirals -- including 10 four-star officers -- sent a letter
yesterday to the leadership of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
urging support for a provision of the intelligence authorization bill that
would require the CIA and other intelligence agents of the U.S. government
to adhere to interrogation rules set out in the Army Field Manual. The
provision, which passed the House in December as part of the Conference
Report on the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, H.R.
2082, is scheduled for a vote in the Senate today, Wednesday.

The Field Manual provision would establish a single standard of humane
treatment for all prisoners in U.S. custody and reinforce the ban on
torture and other inhuman treatment, effectively clarifying the illegality
of many of the interrogation techniques widely reported to be used in CIA's
"enhanced interrogation" program, including waterboarding.

The provision will be debated on the Senate floor tomorrow in advance
of an overall vote on H.R. 2082. The full text of the senior military
leaders letter follows below.

February 12, 2008

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV, Chairman
The United States Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Christopher S. Bond, Vice Chairman
The United States Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Rockefeller and Vice Chairman Bond:

As retired military leaders of the U.S. Armed Forces, we write to
express our strong support for Section 327 of the Conference Report on the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, H.R. 2082. Section 327
would require intelligence agents of the U.S. government to adhere to the
standards of prisoner treatment and interrogation contained in the U.S.
Army Field Manual on Human Collector Operations (the Army Field Manual).

We believe it is vital to the safety of our men and women in uniform
that the United States not sanction the use of interrogation methods it
would find unacceptable if inflicted by the enemy against captured
Americans. That principle, embedded in the Army Field Manual, has guided
generations of American military personnel in combat.

The current situation, in which the military operates under one set of
interrogation rules that are public and the CIA operates under a separate,
secret set of rules, is unwise and impractical. In order to ensure
adherence across the government to the requirements of the Geneva
Conventions and to maintain the integrity of the humane treatment standards
on which our own troops rely, we believe that all U.S. personnel - military
and civilian - should be held to a single standard of humane treatment
reflected in the Army Field Manual.

The Field Manual is the product of decades of practical experience and
was updated in 2006 to reflect lessons learned from the current conflict.
Interrogation methods authorized by the Field Manual have proven effective
in eliciting vital intelligence from dangerous enemy prisoners. Some have
argued that the Field Manual rules are too simplistic for civilian
interrogators. We reject that argument. Interrogation methods authorized in
the Field Manual are sophisticated and flexible. And the principles
reflected in the Field Manual are values that no U.S. agency should
violate.

General David Petraeus underscored this point in an open letter to the
troops in May in which he cautioned against the use of interrogation
techniques not authorized by the Field Manual:

What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight. . . . is how we
behave. In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that
dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect
... . Some may argue that we would be more effective if we sanctioned
torture or other expedient methods to obtain information from the enemy.
They would be wrong. Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal,
history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary.
Certainly, extreme physical action can make someone "talk;" however, what
the individual says may be of questionable value. In fact, our experience
in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual
(2-22.3) on Human Intelligence Collector Operations that was published last
year shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely
in eliciting information from detainees.

Employing interrogation methods that violate the Field Manual is not
only unnecessary, but poses enormous risks. These methods generate
information of dubious value, reliance upon which can lead to disastrous
consequences. Moreover, revelation of the use of such techniques does
immense damage to the reputation and moral authority of the United States
essential to our efforts to combat terrorism.

This is a defining issue for America. We urge you to support the
adoption of Section 327 of the Conference Report and thereby send a clear
message - to U.S. personnel and to the world - that the United States will
not engage in or condone the abuse of prisoners and will honor its
commitments to uphold the Geneva Conventions.


Sincerely,

General Joseph Hoar, USMC (Ret.)
General Paul J. Kern, USA (Ret.)
General Charles Krulak, USMC (Ret.)
General David M. Maddox, USA (Ret.)
General Barry McCaffrey, USA (Ret.)
General Merrill A. McPeak, USAF (Ret.)
Admiral Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret.)
General William G. T. Tuttle Jr., USA (Ret.)
General Charles E. Wilhelm, USMC (Ret.)
General Anthony Zinni (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert G. Gard Jr., USA (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Lee F. Gunn, USN (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Henry J. Hatch, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Claudia J. Kennedy, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Donald L. Kerrick, USA (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Albert H. Konetzni Jr., USN (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles Otstott, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster, USA (Ret.)
Major General Leo M. Childs, USA (Ret.)
Major General James P. Collins, USA (Ret.)
Major General Paul Eaton, USA (Ret.)
Major General Eugene Fox, USA (Ret.)
Major General John L. Fugh, USA (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Don Guter, USN (Ret.)
Major General Fred E. Haynes, USMC (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, USN (Ret.)
Major General Melvyn Montano, ANG (Ret.)
Major General Eric Olson, USA (Ret.)
Major General Thomas J. Romig, USA (Ret.)
Major General Gerald T. Sajer, USA (Ret.)
Major General Antonio 'Tony' M. Taguba, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Dorian Anderson, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General David M. Brahms, USMC (Ret.)
Brigadier General Clarke M. Brintnall, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General James P. Cullen, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Evelyn P. Foote, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Gerald E. Galloway, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General David R. Irvine, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General John H. Johns, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard O'Meara, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Murray G. Sagsveen, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier General Anthony Verrengia, USAF (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stephen N. Xenakis, USA (Ret.)

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[unhappycamper]

1. I see batshit crazy Boykin didn't sign.

Nor did Pace or Taguba.

[Ezlivin]

2. There's a headline this American didn't think he'd ever see

"40+ Retired Flag and General Officers Urge Senate Support for Ending Torture"

Ending torture! Ending it!

Am I still in America? Is this really the place I was born?

When the fuck did this country go so far off the rails?