Word Dance

BushCheney's shell game of political non-accountbility is once again brought forth to bamboozle a gullible public. The NYT reports today of greater White House involvement in the destruction of the CIA "harsh interrogation tapes". True to form, though, everything is a bit vague and uncertain. We know Jose' Rodriguez actually gave the order for which he claims written legal advice; so far that document has not been verified. Besides, others also had a say. John Negroponte advised against destruction; other advise was less certain. In the end, it's a matter of interpretation and understanding, not entirely clear. Nobody's fault, really.

I find one great culprit in the quote, “There was an expectation on the part of those providing legal guidance that additional bases would be touched,” said one government official with knowledge of the matter. “That didn’t happen.” Whose expectation? What bases? "There was" is the most vague of passive constructions, indicating neither actor nor action. I learned early in my writing career that an informative sentence tells "who's kicking whom?", subject, verb, object. Clear and simple. Which, of course is why the phrase is so common in modern discourse: officials want to cover up while journalists can't quite tell. Just perfect for CheneyBush. No one ever is rally to blame. You know? Well, we do have Mister Rodriguez but he was acting in good faith and on the advice of legal staff. Time to move on.

Just like the distorted intelligence prior to invading Iraq, disbanding the Iraqi Army or firing the US attorneys. These things...well, there was a misunderstanding...These things happen. Let's move on.

If America believes these actions are consistent with the idea of accountable, representative government under law, the American Republic has accepted its first Caesar.

Destroying the tapes tells me one thing: The CIA was afraid of what they had done. On that basis alone, I conclude they knew their actions well illegal under US law and treaty obligations. They wanted to HIDE those actions. Which makes me wonder why they taped the interrogations in the first place. Hell, you'd think the CIA would remember that tapes destroyed Richard Nixon. At any rate, the CIA knew it had a "ticking time bomb" (a delicious irony in itself) on it's hands and wanted to defuse it.

As for the ticking time bombs that require harsh interrogation in order to save lives, the jury is still out.