Retired JAG Admiral Guter to head South Texas College of Law

This morning, President Bush announced he vetoed the House and Senate passed Intelligence Authorization bill because it extended the prohibition on the use of waterboarding and other harsh coercive interrogation techniques that currently applies to the military to the entire Intelligence Community, including the CIA.

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the GITMO signing

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On the veto, Speaker Pelosi said:

The intelligence authorization bill invests in human intelligence, counterterrorism operations, and analysis to protect our nation and ensure that policymakers have access to accurate, timely and actionable intelligence. This legislation is a critical component of securing our nation and the President should have signed it into law.

Instead, the President vetoed these essential investments in our intelligence capabilities because this legislation extended the Army Field Manual’s prohibition on torture to Intelligence Community personnel. Failing to legally prohibit the use of waterboarding and other harsh torture techniques undermines our nation’s moral authority, puts American military and diplomatic personnel at-risk, and undermines the quality of intelligence.

In the final analysis, our ability to lead the world will depend not only on our military might, but also on our moral authority. We will begin to reassert that moral authority by attempting to override the President’s veto next week. The world must know that America does not torture.

Military leaders – including General David Petraeus, Commanding General of U.S. forces in Iraq – have publicly stated that these techniques are inhumane, un-American and are not necessary to produce results.

General David Petraeus, Commanding General of Iraq:

“Some may argue that we would be more effective if we sanctioned torture or other expedient methods to obtain information from the enemy. That would be wrong. Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary. Certainly, extreme physical action can make someone ‘talk;’ however, what the individual says may be of questionable value. In fact, our experience in applying the interrogations laid out in the Army Field Manual….that was published last year shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting information from detainees.” [Open Letter, 5/10/07]

Lt. General Michael D. Maples, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, asked by Sen. Carl Levin if he thinks waterboarding is consistent with the Geneva Conventions:

“No, sir, I don’t.”

Asked if it he believes it’s humane:

“No, sir. I think it would go beyond that bound.”
[Testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, 2/27/08]

Lt. General Harry Soyster, (Ret.) Former Director of Defense Intelligence Agency:

“Experience shows that the field manual’s approaches to interrogation work. The Army Field Manual is comprehensive and sophisticated. It contains all the techniques any good interrogator needs to get accurate, reliable information, including out of the toughest customers.” [2/29/08]

Rear Admiral Donald J. Guter, (Ret.) Judge Advocate General, Navy, Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, (Ret.) Judge Advocate General, Navy, Major General John L. Fugh, (Ret.) Judge Advocate General, Army, Rear Admiral Donald J. Guter, (Ret.) Judge Advocate General, Navy:

“As far as we’re concerned, this shouldn’t be a point the United States should have to debate… There’s no disconnect between human rights and national security…They’re synergistic. One doesn’t work without the other for very long.” [Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 12/10/07]

Maj. General Evan Wallach, (Ret.) Judge Advocate General, Nevada National Guard:

“The United States knows quite a bit about waterboarding. The U.S. government — whether acting alone before domestic courts, commissions and courts-martial or as part of the world community — has not only condemned the use of water torture but has severely punished those who applied it… We know that U.S. military tribunals and U.S. judges have examined certain types of water-based interrogation and found that they constituted torture. That’s a lesson worth learning. The study of law is, after all, largely the study of history. The law of war is no different. This history should be of value to those who seek to understand what the law is — as well as what it ought to be.” [Washington Post, 11/4/07]

Brigadier General David M. Brahms, (Ret.) Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant:

“Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal… This is a critically important issue – but it is not, and never has been, a complex issue, and even to suggest otherwise does a terrible disservice to this nation… Waterboarding detainees amounts to illegal torture in all circumstances. To suggest otherwise – or even to give credence to such a suggestion – represents both an affront to the law and to the core values of our nation.” [Letter, 11/2/07]

General Joseph Hoar, (Ret.), General David M. Maddox, (Ret.), Vice Admiral Lee F. Gunn, (Ret.), Vice Admiral Albert Konetzni Jr. Ret.), Maj. General Paul Eaton, (Ret.), Rear Admiral Don Guter, (Ret.), Maj. General Melvyn Montano, (Ret.), Brig. General David Brahms, (Ret.), Brig. General David Irvine, (Ret.), Brig. General Murray Sagsveen, (Ret.), General Paul J. Kern, (Ret.), General Merrill A. McPeak, (Ret.), Lt. General Claudia J. Kennedy, (Ret.), Lt. General Charles Otstott, (Ret.), Maj. General Eugene Fox, (Ret.), Maj. General Fred E. Haynes, (Ret.), Maj. General Gerald T. Sajer, (Ret.), Brig. General James P. Cullen, (Ret.), Brig. General John H. Johns, (Ret.), Brig. General Anthony Verrengia, (Ret.), General Charles Krulak, (Ret.), Admiral Stansfield Turner, (Ret.), Lt. General Donald L. Kerrick, (Ret.), Lt. General Harry E. Soyster, (Ret.), Maj. General John L. Fugh, (Ret.), Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, (Ret.), Maj. General Antonio M. Taguba, (Ret.), Brig. General Evelyn P. Foote, (Ret.), Brig. General Richard O’Meara, (Ret.), Brig. General Stephen N. Xenakis, (Ret.):

“We believe it is vital to the safety of our men and women in uniform that the United States not sanction the use of interrogation methods it would find unacceptable if inflicted by the enemy against captured Americans…The current situation, in which the military operates under one set of interrogation rules that are public and the CIA operates under a separate, secret set of rules, is unwise and impractical…What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight…is how we behave. In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect.” [Letter, 12/12/07]