Capitol Hill
15 July 2008
A key former defense official has testified under subpoena about theBush administration's authorization of harsh interrogation techniques. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, Douglas Feith denied hefavored harsh interrogation of prisoners in the war against terror.
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| Douglas Feith (file photo) |
Feith was Undersecretary of Defense for Policy from 2001 to 2005, serving under former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Heis one of a group of former Bush administration officials involved inhigh-level discussions about U.S. interrogation policies after theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, as well aspolicy leading up to the war in Iraq.
Opening the hearing -the fourth so far dealing with interrogation at the Guantanamo Baydetention facility - panel chairman Jerrold Nadler saidadministration interrogation tactics have brought shame to the UnitedStates.
"It seems clear from the evidence that we have been ableto assemble so far, that the administration decided early on to engagein torture, to use any rationale to do what generations of soldiersunderstood we could not do, and to conceal that face from the Americanpeople and the world," he said. "As a result our nation and especiallyour men and women in uniform are less safe today."
Republicansreflected the Bush administration's position that so-called enhancedinterrogation techniques, including simulated drowning orwater-boarding, provided important intelligence and were used only onthree key al-Qaida suspects.
Some, including RepresentativeTrent Franks, also asserted that majority Democrats' focus oninterrogation policies has been detrimental to U.S. security.
"Thisis about the 10th hearing that we have in this subcommittee that wasdedicated primarily to making sure that we were protecting the rightsof terrorists, and I understand that," he said. "But we have none thatI know of that are dedicated to protecting the lives of Americancitizens and I think 10 to zero is a little out of balance."
DeborahPerlstein is, a legal scholar with Princeton University's WoodrowWilson School for Public and International Affairs, describeslawmaker's investigations as extremely important.
"The U.S.record of detainee treatment has fallen far short of what our lawsrequire, and what our security interests demand," she said.
Underquestioning, Feith described himself as a strong champion of respectfor the Geneva Conventions, denying that he ever recommended settingaside Common Article 3 relating to detainee treatment.
He says he and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers argued to the contrary to former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.
"ThatGeneva is crucial for our own armed forces," said Faith. "I describedGeneva as a good treaty that requires its partners to treat prisonersof war the way we want our captured military personnel treated. I notedthat U.S. troops are trained to uphold Geneva and this training is anessential element of U.S. military culture."
"I wrote thatGeneva is morally important, crucial to U.S. morale and it's alsopractically important because it makes U.S. forces the gold standard inthe world facilitating our winning cooperation from other countries,"he added.
Feith had scathing criticism for British lawyer,Philippe Sands, who alleged in a book called Torture Team that Feithwas a primary voice arguing against adherence to Common Article 3.
CallingSands' book "a weave of inaccuracies and distortions," Feith describesit as part of an inaccurate narrative by Bush administration critics.
"Thatflawed book is a pillar of the argument that Bush administrationofficials despised the Geneva Conventions and encouraged abuse andtorture of detainees," he said. "Congress and the American peopleshould know that this so-called torture narrative is built on sloppyresearch, misquotations and unsubstantiated allegations."
Sitting at the witness table with Feith, Sands denied having misrepresented or misquoted Feith, whom he had interviewed.
"Atthe heart of these hearings lie issues of fact," said Sands. "IfCongress cannot sort this out, and if the desire for foreigninvestigations is to be avoided, the need to investigate the factsfully in this house and the other house is an important one, andforeign investigations may become impossible to resist if that does nothappen."
Sands quoted from a recorded interview with Feith, inwhich the former official said al-Qaida members were not entitled tohave the Geneva Conventions applied at all. This appears unambiguous,says Sands, to include Common Article 3 of the conventions.
InJune, lawmakers questioned David Addington, chief of staff to VicePresident Dick Cheney, and former Justice Department official John Yooabout their roles in memoranda establishing legal justifications forharsh interrogation techniques.
Despite Republican criticisms,Democrats have scheduled a fifth hearing of the House subcommitteefocusing on interrogation policies for this Thursday.