The reaction to the stream of revelations in recent years about torture authorized by the American government has highlighted one of the most galling inequities in our society. Criminal justice, it seems, is meant for “them” – the poor, minorities, the powerless, the faceless people at the margins of society, or anyone without fame, power, or prestige. It is astonishing to witness the reaction of those who seem to feel real outrage about the idea that Dick Cheney, George Bush, or other top officials might be held legally accountable for their actions. Those who are accustomed to private schools, massive incomes, huge investment portfolios, political and economic connections, top-notch health care, and posh vacation homes, and all the highest privileges of a wealthy society are above the law. Lynddie England is from working-class West Virginia. She is not above the law.
In his analysis of the IG Torture Report, Glenn Greenwald puts it this way:
Manifestly, none of this [torture] happened by accident. As the IG Report continuously notes, all of these methods were severe departures from long-standing CIA guidelines (if not practices). This all occurred because the officials at the highest levels of the U.S. Government pronounced that this was permissible, the protections of the Geneva Conventions were “quaint,” obsolete and inapplicable, and the U.S. was justified in doing anything and everything in the name of fighting Terrorists. As stomach-turning as these individual acts of sadism are, it is far worse to consider that only low-level interrogators will suffer consequences while those who were truly responsible — the criminally depraved leaders and lawyers who ordered and authorized it — will be protected.
In what might be a step toward rule of law, AG Eric Holder has announced a “limited investigation” into interrogations torture that occurred during the Bush administration. And here is the reaction of Ari Fleischer:
“I think the decision is disgusting,” Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush’s first press secretary, told the Huffington Post. “It’s amazing to me that the people who kept us safe may now become the people our government prosecutes. There are plenty of real criminals out there — it would be nice if the Justice Department went after them.”
The criminals are always “out there.” They’re never within the halls of power and privilege.
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