Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Walid bin Attash, two of the men who orchestrated 9/11 and the earlier attack on the USS Cole, were interviewed by the International Red Cross during their imprisonment by our government. Recently, transcripts of these interviews have been made public through back channel efforts on behalf of the New York Times and among other US national newspapers. In the interviews, the men describe their treatment at the hands of Americans and our surrogates.
Both of these gentlemen freely and gleefully admitted to participating and planning in the attacks. During their initial interrogations, they “gave up” important information on the structure and organizational processes of al Qaeda, information that has proven valuable in averting further attacks. In fact, their sponsors haven’t been able to mount a cohesive or effective attack against American interests since 9/11. That fact is a testament to our effective intelligence and military services, unencumbered by political hand wringing.
A fairly small segment of our population are considered “expert” in torture or interrogation. One of the most important pieces of information ever written on the subject came from a middle-aged US Navy Commander by the name of James B. Stockdale. Stockdale was a Navy jet pilot in the late 1950s and 1960s. A Naval Academy graduate, he was also a Stanford graduate student who studied Greek philosophy. Political junkies will remember he was Ross Perot’s running mate in ’92 – but that fact is a sidebar to a more important facet of Stockdale’s life.
What does a Vietnam War era pilot have to do with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Walled bin Attash? Here’s the answer: Stockdale was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese Communists in September of 1965. During the next seven years, he endured the unimaginable—not because he knew tactics, planning strategies or battle plans – but because the North Vietnamese (accompanied by Cuban and Soviet coaches) were sadistic men who enjoyed watching grown men scream, cry and vomit like newborn babies.
The Air Force, Navy and Marine pilots who were shot down down over Hanoi didn’t know much beyond their own mission briefings provided to them only hours before they found themselves ejecting from their aircraft. They might have known the name of the next movie was that was being shown aboard ship or at their base, but as far as long range, strategic knowledge, they were in the dark.
This fact, well known to the North Vietnamese, didn’t stop them from trying to elicit propaganda “confessions” from the American POWs. These confessions and statements were filmed, audio taped, or prepared in written statements – all encouraged by a wonderful variety of painful torture techniques. Down in Guantanamo (or Abu Ghrab for that matter) these acts of cruelty were never even closely approached. Comparing isolation, stress positions and yes, even water boarding to North Vietnamese torture techniques would be like comparing a snow shovel to a butter knife. But the comparisons in torture techniques aren’t really the issue – the issue the media wants to dwell on is the notion that the United States shouldn’t have tried any coercive methods to gather important information from the terrorists.
Navy Commander Stockdale was not involved in planning attacks - he didn’t have operational knowledge of any battle outside his Carrier Air Group. So why work him over?
This question is the crux of the “torture myth” people are missing. Our military and intelligence services quickly and effectively weeded out those prisoners who knew nothing, and focused on those who did. Attempting to portray United States intelligence services and military units as runaway sadists is a myth only perpetuated by appeasers and unrepented socialist holdovers from the 1960s. The Attorney General should reflect who in fact is behind these calls for “justice”.
Not incidentally, Stockdale won the Medal of Honor for refusing to be a guest star in one of the Communist’s propaganda films. He beat himself to a pulp so they wouldn’t film him.
Matt Crow joined Reagan Administration in 1987; worked in both Bush 41 and 43 Administrations; plays to a 19 golf handicap and loves to vacation at the beach with his wife and children.
