War, Freedom & the Constitution

•torture clip

What makes America great?

• Why is the US (arguably) the greatest country?• Military might? Certainly powerful

• But America is more than just land and military

• America is also an idea representing democracy, equality, & freedom• Our commitment to these ideals is what makes us

great

• Alexis de Tocqueville • “America is great because it is good; if America

ever stops being good, it will stop being great”

Ben Franklin

• "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

• The “war on terror” has cost Americans some of our liberty• Are these “essential” liberties for a free society?• Do we need do take away these freedoms to

achieve safety?• Do these policies actually make us safer?

Birth of an idea --DC 9/11: Time of Crisis

• Camp David meeting • illustrates rationale for limiting freedoms

• Wolfowitz • Taliban is only the beginning

• Tenet• need our allies to implement unsavory tactics

• Bush’s Paradigm Shift• (clip)

http://www.stchas.edu/faculty/proesler/clips/War&Freedom_Bush_perspective.wmv

Paradigm shift in action

• In October, General Hill wrote that “despite our best efforts, some detainees… resisted our interrogation methods.”• Hill asked for new

techniques, such as• Mild physical contact • Stress positions• Dogs (see Abu Ghraib

photos)

• Alberto Mora (Navy’s top lawyer) called the Bush policy “extreme”

• Yet in December 2002, Rumsfeld signed off on these new methods

• These policies have since been put on hold, but Bush is arguing to “redefine” the Geneva Conventions to allow harsh interrogation techniques

Detainee Treatment -- Guantanamo Bay

US Naval base not on US Soil, so Bush argued that it did not have to abide by the US constitution

• Interrogation logs show that Rumsfeld approved some • Sleep deprivation for 50 days• “began teaching detainee lessons such as stay, come and

bark to elevate his social status up to that of a dog. Detainee became very agitated.” (see photo from Abu Ghraib)

• FBI agent notes:• “On a couple of occasions I entered interview rooms to

find detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves and had been left there for 18, 24 hours or more.”

• Several suicides • 770 detainees

• 450 have been released• 38 are classified as No Longer Enemy Combatants• Many have tried to commit suicide, 3 succeeded

• Bush argues that this is an “attack” on the US

Abu Ghraib

• Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who commanded the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, helped set up U.S. operations at Abu Ghraib

• Tactics similar to those in Guantanamo• Women’s underwear on

head• “walking the dog”• Stress positions• “pride and ego down”

(previous page photo)

Military Commissions (current debate)

• November 2001 -- Bush set up a procedure for Military Commissions• Never sought or got Congressional authority• Offers fewer rights to detainees than guaranteed

in the US Constitution• Cannot see evidence against them• Allows evidence obtained through torture

• June, 2006-- Supreme Court ruled that Commissions were unconstitutional • Ruled that the commissions were not authorized

by Congress nor necessary for US security

Extraordinary Rendition

• Secret prisons in 8 different countries• Extraordinary rendition – • Maher Arar – Canadian citizen sent by the US to

Syria for torture• Denied phone call and attorney• Questioned at NY airport for 10 days• Deported to Syria, where he was tortured for 10 months• The Canadian government helped secure his release

from Syria• Never charged with a crime in either US or Canada

• September 18, 2006 – Canadian judge ruled that Arar had no connection to terrorism• Generated resentment against the US even

among Canadians

What is torture?

• Do we torture? Should we?• John Yoo defined torture to be ONLY

• “intense pain or suffering of the kind that is equivalent to the pain that would be associated with serious physical injury so severe that death, organ failure or permanent damage will likely result.”

• None of these Abu Ghraib examples would qualify as torture

• Tactics we have used recently• Water boarding• Mock Burials

• Daily Show water boarding clip

Torture Scenario

• U.S. captured Al Qaeda commander Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi• “rendered” to Egypt --for interrogation tactics that

were prohibited in the US• Recall DC 9/11 clip

• Asked what he knew of Iraqi-Al Qaeda connections• After being tortured (buried alive), admits that

Saddam and Al Qaeda were working together

• Bush administration officials used this in their justification to invade Iraq• Case closed: Iraq & Al Qaeda worked together

• Clearly, a successful use of torture, right?

Drawbacks of Torture

• Not reliable • Intelligence experts warned (even before the invasion) that it was

ludicrous that Saddam and Bin Laden were collaborating• Would you say anything to prevent torture, such as having electric

shock put on your genitals?• John McCain, Hanoi Hilton & the Green Bay Packers

• Not everyone is guilty• CIA estimated that 80% of detainees at Abu Ghraib were NOT

terrorists (turned in by enemies)• Canadian Judge ruled that Arar was innocent even though we were

“sure” enough of his guilt to send him to Syria for torture• Dozens of inmates died in “alternative interrogation” tactics• Un-American & Unconstitutional• Heightens Arab suspicions of the US

• that Americans are corrupt and power-mad, eager to humiliate Muslims and mock their values

Part II: Erosion of Freedoms at home

• September 18, 2001--Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Force• President is authorized to “use all necessary and

appropriate force to prevent future acts of terrorism”• Bush argues that this allows him to take any domestic

actions that he sees as necessary to protect America

• President Bush argues that we need to give up some freedoms to defeat Bin Laden• Bill Maher called US policy-makers “cowards” for lobbing

missiles instead of deploying troops• Bush spokesman Ari Fleisher on Bill Maher’s comments• “they're reminders to all Americans that they need to watch

what they say, watch what they do. This is not a time for remarks like that; there never is.” http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010926-5.html

Bush’s Paradigm Shift at home

• Holding US citizens for years without trial or attorney based on tortured confessions (http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0915/p01s02-usju.html)

• Wiretapping US citizens phones without a warrant• Why not use FISA court? (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)

• Bush argued it would be too slow• BUT can get a warrant even AFTER the search!

• Federal judge ruled domestic wiretapping w/o a warrant to be unconstitutional (August 2006)

• Library searches without warrant

Jose Padilla

• US citizen arrested in Chicago in 2002• Bush declared that Padilla was an “enemy

combatant” who planned to set off a “dirty bomb”• Not charged, but held without an attorney for two years

while being interrogated• Bush argued that in wartime, we allow restrictions

that we wouldn’t normally allow -http://hnn.us/articles/19113.html

• Lincoln suspended the right of Habeas Corpus• FDR interned 100,000+ Japanese during WWII• BUT: were eventually struck down by the courts

• Justice O’Connor: “a state of war is not a blank check for the president”• Bush Administration has now charged Padilla, but not with

“dirty bomb”

What’s wrong with temporarily losing some freedom?

• While other presidents have limited civil liberties, this war will last decades

• It won’t work• Bin Laden’s message of hatred can only be successfully

counteracted by the greatness of our society, not the power of our military

• Global terrorism is on the rise after 5 years of aggressive military response

• Will set a precedent for other countries to justify torturing captured Americans• "Weakening the Geneva protections is not only

unnecessary, but would set an example to other countries, with less respect for basic human rights that they could issue their own legislative 'reinterpretations.' " –John McCain

What are our fundamental values?

• Bill of rights • Framers were terrified of an overly-powerful government

• Set strict limitations on government• These are not recommendations, but strict rules meant to

preserve liberty • Right to dissent

• Rising political correctness• People are afraid to speak out because they will be labeled

traitors• Political Correctness on Campuses

• Forced to change the description of this lecture• President Bush: “you are either with me or you are with the

terrorists”• Dissent is not un-American

• Contrast that with Truman• Truman was very critical of FDR; investigated war spending• Yet FDR respected the importance of dissent (V.P.)

Why are the rights of “criminals” essential freedoms in a democratic society?

• Due process rights guarantee that everyone gets the same fair treatment• Prevents corruption (abuse of power by

government against enemies)• Nixon – ordered the IRS to investigate the “big Jewish

contributors to the Democratic party”

• Ensures that people are not being persecuted because of the color of their skin or ethnicity

• Ensure that innocents have a good chance of defending themselves

• Presumption of innocence

Erosion of Democratic Values at home

• August 2006 Time Magazine Poll• 25% of Americans favor holding US citizens of Arab

descent into Camps to determine links to terrorists•

• 47% favor requiring US citizens of Arab descent to carry an ID card

The Loss of Privacy after 9/11

• Clip on importance of privacy (clip)

• privacy and anonymity are critical components to political freedom• If you are being watched by the government, it’s

hard to feel the freedom to dissent

• Tom Ridge (Former director of Dept of Homeland Security)• “too many people say ‘I don’t care if they listen to

my conversation; I’m not doing anything wrong.’ That is NOT how we will… prevail over these terrorists.”

Do these tactics make us more secure?

• Some argue yes: • Need to defend ourselves; “right to live” is an important value

• Most agree that these tactics don’t work• Ticking time bomb scenario is not realistic

• Our principles are competing against their principles• America is respected by the world because we follow the

Constitution & the Rule of law; we have transparency, due process

• Cannot win without winning the “hearts and minds” of the peoples/countries we are trying to change

• General Anthony Zini: pro-US Arabs say that their “biggest fear is that America will stop being America”

• These tactics make use less secure• can backfire, threatening the lives and safety of our troops

overseas

A different approach to fighting extremism

• We lose if this becomes a clash of civilizations• By overreaching after the 9/11 and invading Iraq, we actually

strengthened the terrorists• We “proved” that Bin Laden was right: we really did want to

take over the Middle East

• Bush does use the right words, at least• Ben Barber: Fear’s Empire clip

• Bin Laden’s Jujitsu made us do what he could not• It is we who are destroying our way of life: what makes us

great

• Don’t need to take away fundamental civil liberties• Don’t worry about nail clippers or pocket knives

• 9/11 Commission recommendations• Common-sense ideas, such as searching all container ships &

improving inter-agency communication (which we have done)

Back to Franklin

• "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

• Do we need to give up liberty?• Do we need to abandon what makes us great to be secure?

• We could have stopped the attack on WTC with what we knew• Government knew since 1996 that Bin Laden was planning to use

planes as weapons• In the summer before 9/11, an FBI agent speculated in notes, made

when investigators sought to explain why Zacarias Moussaoui was enrolled in a Minnesota flight school, that he “might be planning to fly a plane into the World Trade Center,” the newspaper said.

• At the G8 conference in Italy in July, 2001, Bush had anti-aircraft guns and fighter jets patrolling the sky on alert for airplane “bombs”

• All Bush or Clinton had to do was order the cockpit doors be locked and to change standard procedure during hijackings (not to give up the plane)

• This is not to say that it’s Bush’s fault (or Clinton’s)• There’s only 1 person that’s responsible – Bin Laden

• We could have stopped the attack using our “old” techniques

Destroying liberty to save it?

• America is more than a piece of land• America is an ideal that all nations seek to achieve• You cannot lock up liberty like gold at Fort Knox

• We might stop terrorism if we destroy liberty (though I don’t think so)

• “But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life… than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life”

• James Madison, Federalist Paper #10

Suggested Articles

• Has Al Qaeda advanced its goals since 9/11? http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0911/p10s01-wogi.html

• Raise the bar for state secrets privilege http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0913/p09s02-coop.html

• Six Questions for Michael Scheuer on National Security http://harpers.org/sb-seven-michael-scheuer-1156277744.html

• Keith Olbermann's Special Comment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdD6op0l2jk

• “Flight School Memo Names Bin Laden” CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/03/attack/main507943.shtml

• Why GOP trio is bucking the White House -- http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0918/p01s01-usfp.html

Joke

• George W. Bush goes to a primary school to talk to the kids to get a little PR.After his talk he offers question time. One little boy puts up his hand and W asks him his name.

"Stanley," responds the little boy.

"And what is your question, Stanley?"

"I have four questions:

"First, why did the US invade Iraq without the support of the UN?Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more votes?Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?Fourth, why are we so worried about gay-marriage when half of all Americans don't have health insurance?"

At that moment, the bell rings for recess. W informs the kiddies that they will continue after recess.

When they resume Bush says, "Okay, where were we? Oh, that's right, question time. Who has a question?"

Another little boy puts up his hand. W points him out and asks him his name.

"Johnny," he responds.

"What's your question, Johnny?"

"Actually, I have six questions:First, why did the US invade Iraq without the support of the UN?Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more votes?Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?Fourth, why are we so worried about gay marriage when half of all Americans don't have health insurance?Fifth, why did the recess bell go off twenty minutes early?And sixth, what the hell happened to Stanley?"

Parting Thoughts

• “no president has an unblemished record on civil liberties. And no political party has a monopoly on virtue when it comes to defending the principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights. “ --http://hnn.us/articles/19113.html • FDR, Lincoln, Wilson…

• Who’s the worst person you can see as president?• How much power would you want that person to

have?

Constitutional problems with US policies

• Americans cannot be detained without due process (trial, right to attorney…)

• Amendment V• “No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or

property, without due process of law;“

• Amendment VI• “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the

right to a speedy and public trial… to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

How big a threat is terrorism?

• In 2001, 2,800 Americans died from terrorism

• Put the threat into context• In the US each year…

• 30,000 die from influenza• 42,636 deaths in 2005 from auto accidents

• Globally, 5-15 million die each year from poverty-based disease and starvation

• Is this a big enough threat to our country that would be worth limiting our freedoms?

• If our goal is to protect Americans, universal health care and more car-safety regulations would safe many more lives

What’s wrong with racial profiling?

• Probably unconstitutional• Amendment IV:

• The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

• Doesn’t work• Alienates groups you need help

• In UK, a Pakistani neighbor reported suspicious behavior in the airline plotters

• Hostility to police would lessen that help

• Does it promote racism?

Attacks on Academic Freedom at SCC

• Rising Political Correctness• Changing this lecture description

• Prohibiting extra credit options• Attacks on faculty professionalism by

administration officials• Similar to attacks on “Bush-hating” media