The Sept. 11 attacks and the “war on terror” were used to justify illegal detentions and interrogation methods that were sometimes given fancy legal descriptions but amounted purely and simply to torture. President Barack Obama has distanced himself from the heavy-handed policies embraced by his predecessor, but the legacy of the Bush era is still overshadowing his presidency. That waterboarding and other torture methods were used against alleged terrorism suspects is now widely acknowledged, but Obama, concerned about alienating CIA and army officials, has publicly spoken against criminal prosecution of those responsible. While former President George W. Bush has quietly faded into the background and is, presumably, enjoying life in his exclusive corner of Texas, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was rarely seen in public during his tenure at the White House, has become increasingly vociferous in retirement and has warned that prosecuting CIA officials would endanger national security.
President Obama would much rather concentrate on health care reform, but the torture issue is not going away and he is coming under increased pressure to publicly address the excesses of the previous administration. The US attorney general, Eric Holder, is now said to be considering appointing a special prosecutor to look at the torture issue and who was responsible.
Across the Atlantic, the British government is also facing fresh allegations that Britain's security services MI5 and MI6 had outsourced the interrogation of terror suspects to countries with little regard for human rights like Pakistan, Morocco and Bangladesh, while officially condemning the use of torture.
Last week, a former shadow home secretary, David Davis M.P., alleged that one British man, Rangzieb Ahmed, was allowed to fly to Pakistan in 2006 even though he had been identified as a security threat. Pakistan's secret services were tipped of his arrival and even provided with useful questions to ask him. Later repatriated to the UK, Ahmed, an al-Qaeda member, was jailed for life for terrorist activities.
Similar allegations were made by Binyam Mohamed, who has never been charged with terrorism. Arrested in Pakistan, he faced egregious abuse in Morocco before being detained for four years in Guantánamo. He too claimed the British secret services were complicit in his abuse. The allegations made by the two men and several others who were caught up in the war on terror are serious enough that Scotland Yard has launched a criminal inquiry.
How far up the ladder of power this policy of looking the other way was approved remains an important question not only for the UK, but also for the EU. Jack Straw, home secretary at the time, is alleged to have been in the loop. His boss at the time, Tony Blair, is said to be eyeing the position of president of the European Union that will be created if Irish voters approve the Lisbon Treaty in the upcoming referendum. Opposition to his nomination is mounting within the EU. These new claims will hopefully remind others that Blair's enthusiastic support for Bush's post-Sept. 11 policies would make him a particularly unsuitable candidate for this position.
Is it possible for a country to move beyond periods of darkness without first acknowledging that mistakes have been committed? This is the central question that the soul-searching currently taking place here in Turkey, but also in the UK and the US, is seeking to answer. No democracy is perfect, but the ability to examine the mechanisms that led to grievous excesses and, more importantly, the ability to learn lessons from the past is part of what makes it the least worst form of government.
