[Vision2020] Roger Falen: Please Read This

[bear at moscow.com]

Don,

AS a soldier and an American, the bottom line is simple: WE DO NOT TORTURE
-period!

Does it occur, yes, and those that TORTURE should be punished. There is no
excuse for it, no justification. "I was only following orders" doesn't cut
it. Bush, Cheney, the legal advisors, the actual torturers, need to be
hauled before an inquiry and courts, thats how it's done in America.  It
is also the only way that the moral high ground and the world wide
reputation of America can be reinstated.

I am curious, that since they put so much "faith" in confessions tortured
out of people, are they willing to let evidence that was gathered by
torture used against them? I'll be not and they will be the first worms to
scream that it's unreliable!

And while I'm on this particular soap box, I think that the photographs
SHOULD be released. Sooner or later, they will get out. Much better to
fess up to in now and move on with cleaning up this pile of Bush! Is their
release/publication  going to effect how our soldiers on the ground in the
middle east are going to be looked up, it sure is, but we need to get them
out on the table and move on.

Another case of the Bushites  figuratively killing mom and dad and want
mercy because they are orphans!




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To Nick's article and Bear's reply here, I can't hold back a resounding
> "AMEN brotha's!!!"
> Thanks Nick, you're article helped me shut someone up.  Don
> By the way:
>
>
> In the three religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, whenever the
> faithful pray, regardless of language, they always end their prayer by
> saying Amen. There is no linguistic translation for Amen, because it is a
> name and not a word. The origin of Amen is Egyptian, for Amen was the name
> of God. The Jews have learned about Amen during their sojourn in Egypt,
> which lasted for four generations. The name of Amen, which means the
> Hidden One, in Ancient Egypt, lives on.
>
>
> Read more here:
> http://www.egypt-tehuti.org/articles/egypt-bible-similarities.html
>
>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 14:40:09 -0700 (PDT)
>> From: bear at moscow.com
>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Roger Falen: Please Read This
>> To: nickgier at roadrunner.com
>> Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
>> Message-ID: <3f2584ee1ebab7a50660c73b1a07a067.squirrel at secure.fsr.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>>
>>
>> Nick,
>>
>> I agree 100% with Matt Alexander but I'm afraid that without a serious
>> and
>> zealous prosecution of those that broke faith and betrayed the American
>> soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan by authorizing and committing these
>> acts,
>> not only will nothing change, but it WILL happen again.
>>
>> And I for one, don't care what political party anyone is in that either
>> validated or authorized or committed the acts is from. If individual
>> members of government, either by commission or omission, were involved,
>> they should be brought before the bar of justice and judged.
>> The message this sends to the world is far beyond any words that we can
>> voice. it says, loud and clear, WE DO NOT TORTURE and those involved in
>> torture will be investigated and tried for their crimes.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > Matthew Alexander before the Senate Judiciary Committee
>> > Thank you for the opportunity to address the Committee on the issue of
>> > interrogation. I especially thank Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for his
>> > invitation to submit this written testimony.
>> > I submit this testimony as a private citizen and not as an official
>> > representative of the United States Air Force or as a representative
>> of
>> > the Department of Defense. I am currently still in the Air Force
>> Reserves.
>> > I have served for seventeen years in the United States Air Force and
>> Air
>> > Force Reserves and have completed five combat deployments to three
>> wars. I
>> > feel that nothing less than our national soul is at stake in the
>> debate
>> > concerning the torture and abuse of prisoners.
>> > In 2006, I deployed to Iraq as an interrogator at the bequest of the
>> Army.
>> > Prior to my deployment I was a special agent for the Air Force Office
>> of
>> > Special Investigations, both on Active Duty and in the Reserves.
>> Before I
>> > was a special agent, I was a special operations helicopter pilot. I've
>> > served in the conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Colombia, and Iraq.
>> > As an interrogator in Iraq, I conducted more than 300 interrogations
>> and
>> > supervised more than 1,000. I led the interrogations team that located
>> Abu
>> > Musab Al Zarqawi, the former leader of Al Qaida in Iraq, and one of
>> the
>> > most notorious mass murderers of our generation. At the time that we
>> > killed Zarqawi, he was the number one priority for the United States
>> > military, higher than Osama Bin Laden.
>> > I strongly oppose the use of torture or abuse as interrogation methods
>> for
>> > both pragmatic and moral reasons.
>> > For purposes of clarity, I endorse the semantic clarification offered
>> by
>> > Alberto Mora, former General Counsel to the Department of the Navy,
>> who
>> > states that cruelty is a more accurate term than abuse, citing the
>> > prohibition against cruelty in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S.
>> > Constitution. For the purpose of this testimony, however, I will use
>> the
>> > commonly used term "abuse" instead of the word "cruelty" to denote
>> those
>> > actions that are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution, Geneva
>> Conventions,
>> > or U.S. military regulations.
>> > There are many pragmatic arguments against torture and abuse. The
>> first is
>> > the lack of evidence that torture or abuse as an interrogation tactic
>> is
>> > faster or more efficient than other method such as relationship
>> building
>> > or deception. In my experience, when interrogators used harsh methods
>> that
>> > fit the definition of abuse, in every instance, that method served
>> only to
>> > harden the resolve of the detainee and made them more resistant to
>> > interrogation. As revealed in the so-called Torture Memos, the mere
>> fact
>> > that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was waterboarded 183 times is ample
>> evidence
>> > that torture made him more resistant to interrogation and that because
>> > coercion was used, he gave only the minimum amount of information
>> > necessary to stop the pain.
>> > The second pragmatic argument against torture and abuse is the fact
>> that
>> > Al Qaida used our policy that authorized and encouraged these illegal
>> > methods as their number one recruiting tool for foreign fighters.
>> While I
>> > supervised interrogations in Iraq, I listened to a majority of foreign
>> > fighters state that the reason they had come to Iraq to fight was
>> because
>> > of the torture and abuse committed at both Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo
>> Bay.
>> > These foreign fighters made up approximately 90% of the suicide
>> bombers in
>> > Iraq at that time, in addition to leading and participating in
>> thousands
>> > of attacks against Coalition and Iraqi forces. It is not an
>> exaggeration
>> > to say that hundreds, if not thousands, of American soldiers died at
>> the
>> > hands of these foreign fighters. The policy that authorized and
>> encouraged
>> > the torture and abuse of prisoners has cost us American lives. The
>> torture
>> > and abuse of prisoners is counterproductive to our efforts to thwart
>> > terrorist attacks in the long term and to keep all Americans safe.
>> > In addition, torture and abuse of prisoners causes present and future
>> > detainees to be more resistant to interrogations. When we torture or
>> abuse
>> > detainees, it hardens their resolve and reinforces the reasons why
>> they
>> > picked up arms against us. In addition, it makes all Americans appear
>> as
>> > hypocrites, thereby betraying the trust that is necessary to establish
>> > prior to convincing a detainee to cooperate. Detainees are more likely
>> to
>> > cooperate when they see us live up to our principles. Several
>> high-ranking
>> > Al Qaida members that I interrogated in Iraq decided to cooperate with
>> me
>> > for the very reason that I did not torture or abuse them and because I
>> > treated them and their religion and culture with respect. In fact,
>> that
>> > was one of the main reasons I was able to convince a member of
>> Zarqawi's
>> > inner circle to cooperate with us.
>> > The final pragmatic argument that I offer against torture and abuse is
>> > that future adversaries will be less likely to surrender to us during
>> > combat. During the first Gulf War, thousands of Iraqi troops
>> surrendered
>> > to American forces knowing that they would be fairly treated as
>> prisoners
>> > of war. This same rational was present during World War II, where
>> German
>> > soldiers fought and evaded in the vicinity of Berlin for the privilege
>> of
>> > being captured by American versus Russian troops. If future
>> adversaries
>> > are unwilling to surrender to us because of the manner in which we've
>> > treated prisoners in the current conflict, it will have a real cost in
>> > American lives.
>> > As a military officer, it is my obligation not just to point out the
>> > broken wheel, but to fix it. So allow me to address the effective
>> > interrogation methods that led to the successes of my team in Iraq.
>> World
>> > War II interrogators used relationship building approaches to great
>> > success against captured Germans and Japanese, and my team imitated
>> their
>> > methods. However, we also added new techniques to our arsenal.
>> > I deployed to the war with four other Air Force special agents with
>> > experience as criminal investigators and we brought with us skills and
>> > training that were unique compared to our Army counterparts. Through
>> the
>> > Air Force, we had learned to interrogate criminal suspects using
>> > relationship building and non-coercive police investigative
>> techniques. I
>> > learned quickly in Iraq that Al Qaida has much more in common with
>> > criminal organizations than with traditional rank and file soldiers.
>> The
>> > interrogation methods in the Army Field Manual 2-22.3 are valid
>> approaches
>> > and sometimes applicable for interrogating members of Al Qaida, but
>> even
>> > more effective are the techniques that I learned as a criminal
>> > investigator. I used these techniques, permitted by the Army Manual
>> under
>> > the terms "...psychological ploys, verbal trickery, or other
>> nonviolent or
>> > non-coercive subterfuge..." to great success and I taught these
>> techniques
>> > to other members of my interrogation team. Just one example of !
>> > a commonly used criminal investigative technique that has been adopted
>> > into the Army Field Manual is the Good Cop/Bad Cop approach, but there
>> > are numerous others that are absent from both the manual and the
>> Army's
>> > interrogator training. The U.S. law enforcement community has much to
>> add
>> > to the improvement of our interrogation methods and the United States
>> > Army would do well to consult with experienced criminal investigators
>> > from our police departments and federal law enforcement agencies.
>> > I also want to address the so called "ticking time bomb" scenario that
>> is
>> > so often used as an excuse for torture and abuse. My team lived
>> through
>> > this scenario every day in Iraq. The men that we captured and
>> interrogated
>> > were behind Zarqawi's suicide bombing campaign. Most of our prisoners
>> had
>> > knowledge of future suicide bombing operations that could have been
>> > prevented with the quick extraction of accurate intelligence
>> information.
>> > Even if we assume that torture or abuse are more effective or
>> efficient
>> > than other methods of interrogation, which in my experience they are
>> not,
>> > my team knew that we could not save lives today at the expense of
>> losing
>> > lives tomorrow. We knew that we would be recruiting future fighters
>> for Al
>> > Qaida's ranks, some of whom would surely kill Americans and other
>> innocent
>> > civilians and, most likely, our brothers and sisters in arms.
>> > What works best in the ticking time bomb scenario is relationship
>> > building, which is not a time-consuming effort when conducted by a
>> > properly trained interrogator, and non-coercive deception. By reciting
>> a
>> > line from the Quran at the beginning of an interrogation, I often
>> built
>> > rapport in a matter of minutes. Contrary to popular belief, building a
>> > relationship with a prisoner is not necessarily a time consuming
>> exercise.
>> > I also conducted point-of-capture interrogations in Iraqi homes,
>> streets,
>> > and cars, and I discovered that in these time-constrained environments
>> > where an interrogator has ten or fifteen minutes to assess a detainee
>> and
>> > obtain accurate intelligence information, relationship building and
>> > deception were again the most effective interrogation tools. It is
>> about
>> > being smarter, not harsher.
>> > I have addressed the pragmatic arguments against torture and abuse and
>> > discussed effective non-coercive interrogation methods, but let me
>> address
>> > the more important issue in this debate - the moral argument against
>> > torture and abuse. When I took the oath of office as a military
>> officer, I
>> > swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of
>> > America, which specifically prohibits cruelty towards any person in
>> the
>> > Eighth Amendment. In addition, torture and abuse are inconsistent with
>> the
>> > basic principles of freedom, liberty, and justice, upon which our
>> country
>> > was founded. George Washington, during the Revolutionary War,
>> specifically
>> > prohibited his troops from torturing prisoners. Abraham Lincoln
>> prohibited
>> > Union troops from torturing Confederate prisoners. We have a long
>> history
>> > of abiding by American principles while conducting war.
>> > Some have argued that the arguments against torture and abuse are
>> clear on
>> > a "sunny day" in 2009 versus after the dark cloud of 9/11. There is no
>> > mention of sunny days versus dark days in the military officer's oath
>> of
>> > office. As leaders, military officers bear the responsibility to keep
>> > their emotions in check and to fulfill their duties consistent with
>> > American principles. I can offer no better words than those of General
>> > George C. Marshall, the orchestrator of the Allied victory in Europe
>> > during World War II, who stated, "Once an army is involved in war,
>> there
>> > is a beast in every fighting man which begins tugging at its chains...
>> a
>> > good officer must learn early on how to keep the beast under control,
>> both
>> > in his men and in himself."
>> > As a proud American, I know that we have the intellectual ability to
>> > defeat our enemies in the battle of wits in the interrogation room. We
>> > will not convince every detainee to cooperate, but we can lose battles
>> and
>> > still win the war. No profession can boast of perfect performance in
>> > combat - infantry soldiers don't shoot every target. On the road to
>> > Zarqawi, my interrogation team encountered several high ranking
>> members of
>> > Al Qaida who did not cooperate, but we used those interrogations as
>> > opportunities to improve our skills. In fact, it was in one such case
>> that
>> > I developed a non-coercive technique that I later used on the detainee
>> who
>> > led us to Zarqawi.
>> > We are smart enough to effectively interrogate our adversaries and we
>> > should not doubt our ability to convince detainees to cooperate.
>> American
>> > culture gives us unique advantages that we can leverage during
>> > interrogations - tolerance, cultural understanding, intellect, and
>> > ingenuity. In closing, the same qualities that make us great Americans
>> > will make us great interrogators.
>> > I want to thank the Committee again for this opportunity to submit
>> > testimony based on my experiences.
>> >
>> > Respectfully,
>> > Matthew Alexander
>
>
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