Op-Ed 1: Torture

US Vice-President Dick Cheney recently remarked that he didn't want the CIA to be the subject of a US law that specifically bans torture.

That's right. He basically said that he wanted torture to be an option in the war against terror.

Wait a second... I thought the US prided itself on being the "good guy" in all this? How in the heck can you win the hearts and minds of the world when your second highest official is declaring that torture can be a legitimate tool? I thought this was what they were fighting AGAINST? What kind of moral high-ground can the US claim if it condones this kind of activity?

This has been something outlawed by the international community for many decades now, ever since the Geneva Convention, yet this doesn't seem to be fazing the US, the country that prides itself on being the bastion of democracy and freedom.

In the span of a few short months, a number of revelations have been published by major newspapers such as the Washington Post and the LA Times, such as:

1) That torture is an interrogation method that the White House refuses to rule out;
2) That secret "black sites" (secret prisons) existed in different countries, including Thailand, where interrogations of suspects were held without any due legal process; and
3) That secret CIA flights were conducted over German airspace, violating German sovereignty.

These are just a few of the things that have come to light. I'm pretty sure a lot more is going on behind the scenes.

So how can the US ever expect to convince the moderate Islamic World that it is a good country that cares about human rights? I mean, you can't just demand that certain countries adopt certain values and principles if you yourself don't follow those same values and principles. Just because you don't violate them in your own country (where they are clearly illegal), and instead do it on foreign soil, doesn't make it right.

I don't know about you, but Dick Cheney's name couldn't be more fitting. I don't believe the US has any hope in hell of convincing anyone not already on the bandwagon that it is acting appropriately, and within the bounds of human decency. Torture should NEVER be an option, not in any civilized society. I don't care what the end results are meant to be... the day we sacrifice our principles for an end result is the day we bring Machiavelli back to life, and we basically say that our values and principles mean nothing unless we get what we want in the end.