Joe HonickJoe Honick
The tragic case of a young American student arrested and tortured by North Korea before returning him to his family in a coma, only to die within days quite logically caught the attention of the nation.

It also worked to create the usual political blather opportunity to condemn the insane North Koreans.

Forgotten of course were our own activities in Abu Graib authorized by the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9/11, torture that inspired extremists in the Middle East to believe it justified their own abuse.

President Obama issued Executive Order 13491, banning the U.S. Government’s use of torture, a powerful rebuke to Bush, which had authorized the CIA to use what were euphemistically called “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Any positive results hardly spoke well for the reputation of America.

So, as we react to the hardly surprising treatment by the government of an Asian madman in North Korea, it is important to remember that candidate Trump in a February 2016, debate vowed to reinstate torture, including treatment that would be “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding” as reported in Foreign Affairs magazine of September/October 2016 by three reputable historians.

According to their article, when asked later on a talk show if he stood by his remarks, Trump replied, “It wouldn’t bother me even a little bit.”

It is significant also to report that in a Washington Post-ABC News survey, a majority of Americans thought the CIA’s use of torture was justified!

In 2014, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as part of a five year study of the CIA program, argued the torture actions had not produced unique intelligence.

The Republicans disagreed. The CIA of course said it had produced important stuff.

The question is whether it had or not, could we publicly accuse other governments doing likewise as we had with the Viet Cong and now with the North Koreans?

Will other nations view President Trump’s support for torture as a green light for their own abuse of prisoners?

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Joseph J. Honick is an international consultant to business and government and writes for many publications. He can be reached at [email protected]