General Petraeus Writes Letter Condemning Torture
General Petraeus wrote a letter in which he speaks out against torture. From the letter:
Our values and the laws governing warfare teach us to respect human dignity, maintain our integrity, and do what is right. Adherence to our values distinguishes us from our enemy. This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we—not our enemies—occupy the moral high ground. This strategy has shown results in recent months. Al Qaeda’s indiscriminate attacks, for example, have finally started to turn a substantial portion of the Iraqi population against it.
In view of this, I was concerned by the results of a recently released survey conducted last fall in Iraq that revealed an apparent unwillingness on the part of some US personnel to report illegal actions taken by fellow members of their units. The study also indicated that a small percentage of those surveyed may have mistreated noncombatants. This survey should spur reflection on our conduct in combat…
I also know firsthand the bonds between members of the “brotherhood of the close fight.†Seeing a fellow trooper killed by a barbaric enemy can spark frustration, anger, and a desire for immediate revenge. As hard as it might be, however, we must not let these emotions lead us—or our comrades in arms—to commit hasty, illegal actions. In the event that we witness or hear of such actions, we must not let our bonds prevent us from speaking up.
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 “talkâ€; 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.
We are, indeed, warriors. We train to kill our enemies. We are engaged in combat, we must pursue the enemy relentlessly, and we must be violent at times. What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight, however, 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.
Read the entire letter at Andrew Sullivan’s place.
It’s a sad thing that this letter is necessary, it is a good sign, obviously, that Petraeus does not agree with those who favor, umh, more aggressive interrogation techniques, etc. and is willing to speak out against it / them.
12 Responses to “General Petraeus Writes Letter Condemning Torture”
A small nitpick but General Petreaus did not really write the letter. He signed a letter that was probably drafted by his command counsel and reviewed by dozens of people.
I find it odd that people keep believing that CEO types actually do detailed type work.
Well, that’s 100% irrelevant isn’t it?
“Howard Cosell here. Im with George Foreman between rounds as the Greatest, Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee champ of all times is beating his brains out.”
“So tell me George what are you thinking as Mohamadi Ali is beating your brains out tonight.”
“Well I tell you Howard. Mohamad Ali is the greatest. He is the champ and I know I’d like to punch back but if I do then the people are going to be mad.”
“So what is your strategy for the rest of the fight?”
“I would like to hit him back but I can’t so I think I will just lean against the ropes and let him beat on me. Occassionally I think Ill take a poke at him but Im just going to wait him out until the referee stops the fight.”
“Well I would wish you good luck George, but everyone knows I’m rooting for the Champ.”
“Thanks Howard. I don’t know what I was thinking in taking this fight, but I’m here now and if they wont let me punch back then I’ll just take my whoopin like a man. I will LOOSE but the fans will LOVE me and so will the CHAMP.”
I’m very glad he signed the letter, but that doesn’t alter the fact that he knowingly works for an administration that believes in it to the point of a signing statement that negates anti-torture legislation that was overwhelmingly passed by our Congress. Maybe he feels that his hands are clean simply because he signed the letter. I don’t.
For anyone who has perused the US Counterinsurgency Field Manual (co-authored by Petraeus) the strong stance in this letter is not a surprise. He opposes these actions on both moral and tactical grounds.
This from Chapter 1 Page 24:
The complete source document is downloadable as a PDF, linked from the Petraeus Wikipedia entry. I have no idea why the curent counterinsurgency playbook, written by the General in the field leading our conterinsergency effort in Iraq is so easily available.
Long, long overdue.
Congratulations to General Petraeus.
It’s a good letter, and I’m glad it was written, signed, and made public.
Now let’s see if if the letter actually affects policy: will the torture stop? And, will people who did the torturing be prosecuted, or at least cashiered?
SuperD – What makes you say Petraeus didn’t write the letter. W’s in trouble, his General is competent and a free thinker, will staff members come out and attack mon General?
Rudi,
Three and four star general do not write anything. That is why they have staffs. do one shoud believe that a President, Vice-president, a Department Secretary, or any high level government official every rights anything.
What probably happen is that General Petraeus told his staff to prepare a memo on prisoner torture. some part of his staff such as general counsel, his staff group, or his public relations/civil affairs staff would have drafted the memo. The draft would then have been cirulated to all of the deputy chiefs of staff, someof the speical staff members, and finally his chief of staff and XO. The draft would have then been sent for signature with probably mandated changes. That is the way that the government works.
While thinking about this, I keep thinking about how little most of the voters know about how the government works. An important skill for presidents, cabinet secretaries, and other high level political appointees is to be able to managed large, diverse staffs. I think everyone has come to realize that President Bush nor President Clinton were really capable of such management duties. They both left it to others.
SD- I would appreciate it if you would not write posts that link President Clinton and your guy. One, while morally flawed, did a reasonably good job of managing the government, the other is a total incompetent.
kritter,
Actually, it was Bob Woodward who first identified Clinton is not being a good manager. Go read the book “The Agenda” and see how poor a manager that Clinton was as president. However, Clinton was smart enough to manage the risk which is something that President Bush is not capable of doing.
President Clinton alienated people on his staff, could not stay on a schedule, and thus learned to concentrate of how things would play in the media and to limit himself to small initiatives (midnight basketball anyone). President Clinton also left entire segments of the goverment (education, energy, law enforcement) off the table. If you look at eight years of the Clinton Administration, there are entire cabinet departments that were totally ignored.
Hah thats funny Kritter. Bill Clinton better thank his lucky stars that the BLOGG was not around during his 8 years as president.
He would have be exposed for the bumbling fumbling absolute MORON that he was.
But then LISTEN before you go off on a rant.
Every President to ever sit in the office would have been exposed to being HUMAN. A fumbler. Bumbler. Human Moron.
I trully feel for every president from here on out. With 5 billion reporters on the job. Geeze. Bush is just the first to feel the wrath of the bloggers. We are a part of history here folks. We are the pioneers of the New political sport………..BlogBall.
Mark my words. You will be moaning at the injustices and the LIES coming from the other side when YOUR MAN/WOMAN is sitting in the Oval office and those same 5 billion reporters are shredding Him/Her.