Jewish Journal: "We must refuse to allow Dick Cheney’s moral obtuseness define us as a nation."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

August 31, 2011

Dick Cheney, torture and teshuvah

by Aryeh Cohen



Vice President Dick Cheney speaks to a crowd of service members on Balad Air Base, Iraq, March 18, 2008. Cheney was in the area visiting with service members deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Julianne Showalter) (www.army.mil)

http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/dick_cheney_torture_and_teshuvah_20110831/

According to press reports, Dick Cheney’s memoir, set to be released this week, is one long exercise is not regretting any decision he made while serving as Vice-President of the United States. This is a shame. The first step in teshuvah, repentance, is recognizing the wrongs that one has committed. Cheney, rather, articulates his continued support for interrogation tactics, including waterboarding, extremes of heat and cold, sleep deprivation, long-term isolation, sensory deprivation and stress positions. It’s clear he will continue to defend his authorization of such torture and has no remorse for the criminal acts of torture he authorized. Cheney could have helped in the effort to repair the harms caused by torturing prisoners by expressing some regret for his actions. He has not.

I have found that the greatest challenge for me in talking about torture, about why torture is, from the point of view Judaism and from the point of view of the larger faith community, completely forbidden, is getting beyond the initial gut level response of—but of course it’s forbidden, how can any sentient being think otherwise. However, as with many things, the obvious needs to be articulated for those, like the former Vice-President, for whom, as a result of force of habit or willing blindness and moral obtuseness, the obvious is not so obvious. So we begin at the beginning.

Note: Edited by Admin -- excerpt shortened at the request of the copyright holder.

[tularetom]

1. Commission of Inquiry, horsefeathers

There is already a mechanism set up for this kind of investigation, it's called a Federal Grand Jury and it has all sorts of subpoena powers.

We don't need no Commission of Inquiry, all we need is to call this evil POS on the carpet and force him to admit or defend his actions in a court of law.