[Mb-civic] MUST READ: Prisoners of Sept. 11 - Jim Hoagland - Washington Post Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

Prisoners of Sept. 11

By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, November 13, 2005; Page B07

The blunders and alleged misdeeds committed by senior officials in the 
Bush administration are taking a terrible toll on this presidency and 
this capital. If you could magically wipe away the problems named 
Katrina, Harriet Miers, Scooter Libby, etc., this White House would 
still be in serious trouble with American and global opinion.

The problem is more structural than President Bush or Vice President 
Cheney acknowledges. Until they do, they swim upstream against a 
quickening current of suspicion and doubt.
The structural dilemma they face cannot be resolved by campaigns of 
political marketing at home or public diplomacy abroad: The core 
decision makers of the Bush team still see the world under the cloud of 
Sept. 11, while more and more citizens do not. Bush and Cheney strive to 
manage a Sept. 11 presidency that others now see as the Iraq presidency.

The White House maneuvers desperately to keep the multiple wars waged by 
al Qaeda and its extremist allies confined to foreign lands so they 
won't be able to strike the U.S. homeland again. The invasion of Iraq 
sprang from that impulse but has taken on a life of its own that blurs 
and transforms Bush's original intent.

The continuing virulence of terrorism was underlined by the bombings of 
three hotels in Amman, Jordan, last week. The blasts, in which four 
terrorists killed themselves and 57 victims, more than half of them 
Jordanians, were directed against "the enemies of Islam, such as the 
Jews and crusaders," according to a communique issued in the name of the 
al Qaeda in Iraq group.

But as time passes without new horror being unleashed in the United 
States, the initial Sept. 11 reactions of fear and rage become 
attenuated, and the public becomes less inclined to support the harsh, 
often borderline methods the administration insists are necessary to 
fight a war against global terrorism.

In that atmosphere, the administration weakens its own credibility at 
home and American moral authority abroad by stubbornly refusing to 
engage in an honest discussion about drawing a line between torture and 
other interrogation techniques.

Cheney's quixotic campaign to exempt the CIA from Sen. John McCain's 
legislation to ban "cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of 
prisoners" is a perfect example of the dissonance I describe. Forget 
about convincing the public: The agency has let it be known that it does 
not want such an exemption. Some conservative White House and State 
Department officials I have pressed on the issue in private 
conversations say they cannot defend or support Cheney's position.

Being seen to argue for an exemption from a law on torture can only add 
to the damage inflicted on American moral authority abroad by the Abu 
Ghraib prison abuse scandal, reports of secret CIA-run prisons in 
Eastern Europe, equivocation on the Geneva Conventions, indiscriminate 
use of force by U.S. troops abroad or open-ended detention without 
effective judicial review for most al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay.

The argument between the majority on the Supreme Court and the 
administration over judicial review for Guantanamo prisoners has now 
worked its way into Congress, where some legislators wonder about the 
continuing intelligence value of prisoners who have been held for nearly 
four years.

The Pentagon has, by and large, met the challenge of demonstrating that 
prisoners in Guantanamo are treated humanely. But it has not shown equal 
concern about the appearance of judicial fairness for the detainees.

Even firm friends of the United States abroad now seek reassurance about 
this administration's intentions and policies. Anti-Americanism is 
becoming the main rival to American power as the organizing principle of 
world politics, one British participant told a European-American 
conference held here last weekend. Prime Minister Tony Blair is said to 
deliver a similar message in private video conferences with Bush.

The administration may tell itself and the world that its policies are 
misunderstood or distorted by Bush-haters, and hope that a Karl Rove or 
Karen Hughes message campaign can clear this up. But the erosion is too 
deep, and the dissonance too loud, to be overcome by image-crafting.

Policies and attitudes have to change, too. Lifting the legal fog that 
intentionally envelops Guantanamo detainees is an urgent need, to 
reaffirm Americans' commitment to the rule of law as well as to 
stabilize the country's standing abroad. So is establishing with 
Congress accountability and some form of transparency for prisoners held 
abroad for U.S. purposes.

The blasts in Jordan show that the murderous forces behind Sept. 11 are 
still on the march. Americans and the rest of the world will be able to 
see that more clearly if the administration ensures that unneeded 
controversies do not cloud their vision.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111101637.html
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