Never Again

A few years ago, I participated in the Florida State University Holocaust Institute for Educators. Of course there were the standard pictures and films of the atrocities, but the true treasure of the event was that we were able to listen to and meet with several holocaust survivors. I bring this up because each time I try to sit down and write about the current Debate on Torture, I can’t stop thinking about something that one of the holocaust survivors said. Someone asked what I thought was an innocuous question at the time, but I vividly remember her answer. She was asked why she kept coming to these lectures and she answered: “So that I can put a human face on it, and do my part to make sure it never happens again.”

It is time for the United States to come to grips with the fact that we tortured. We have to accept what this truly means – we can no longer claim to the white knight on the world stage. With waterboarding alone we have stooped to the likes of the Spanish Inquisition, the Khmer Rouge, and the Gestapo. Just as with the Holocaust there will always be deniers, but in the end we need to expose the full horror of what was done in order to embarrass the population into understanding that torture is not acceptable and dissuade possible enablers in the future. Investigating, exposing and denouncing what happened can we begin to regain the trust of our allies, and in order to make sure this doesn't happen again.

There are quite a few things I would like to address on this topic; I will continue to write about this issue in the coming days. I invite everyone to join the discussion in the days and weeks to come.