"If the Detainee Dies You're Doing It Wrong"

Dear Lisa,

Let me share with you how a lawyer for the United States Government described torture: "It is basically subject to perception. If the detainee dies you're doing it wrong."

How on earth did we get to the point where officials, not in the government of some abusive enemy of America, but in our own government, describe torture in these terms?

Over a year ago, I launched an investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which I chair, into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody, and on Tuesday we held our first public hearing on the matter.

We found that senior officials in the United States government sought information on aggressive techniques, twisted the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees. That led to abuses like stripping detainees naked, putting them in stress positions, using dogs to scare them, putting leashes around their necks to humiliate them, hooding them, depriving them of sleep, and blasting music at them.

Click here to read my full opening statement on the origins of aggressive interrogation techniques.

Why should we care about the rights of detainees? General David Petraeus answered that question in a letter to his troops last year, writing "In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect. While we are warriors, we are also all human beings."

Our investigation will continue, but already it's clear that some of our nations' leaders lost track of the standards and values that should guide us as Americans and as human beings.

Sincerely,

Carl Levin