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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Authorities suspend search for baby Graham ... Police: Woman used her kids' IDs to steal cars ... Public ticket sales for Craterian shows begin today ... Authorities suspend search for baby Graham ... Police: Woman used her kids' IDs to steal cars ... Public ticket sales for Craterian shows begin today ... Jim Brock: We can move beyond torture Comment By Jim Brock More Content Now MailTribune.com By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 11, 2014 at 8:04 AM By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 11, 2014 at 8:04 AM » Social News I wasn’t surprised this week when reports released by the Senate Intelligence Committee confirmed the brutal torture of enemy detainees, but the reaction from the media was abhorrent. For me, this isn’t a battle of right versus left or a feckless attempt for the Obama Administration to stain the Bush legacy. This is government accountability. Here is a bit of honesty: I don’t feel a lot of sympathy for the tortured detainees, but my heart breaks for the Americans whose hands committed these atrocities. Their pain is my primary concern, because torture is against our nature — at least, it should be. Sure, we can justify a lot of actions in the heat of the moment, but hindsight is always 20/20. That was the foremost thought in my mind when reading details regarding the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which came from a Dec. 9 CNN report. The Senate summary showed that torture was in fact a part of enhanced interrogation, a tactic experts say “does not work” and, most surprisingly, did not aid in finding Osama bin Laden. One detainee died “apparently from hypothermia, after being chained, nearly naked, to a concrete floor,” CNN reported. Along with waterboarding, the report states that the CIA used rectal feeding, ice water baths and sleep deprivation, along with threatening to harm the family members of detainees, including threatening to “sexually abuse the mother of a detainee,” the report said. According to a Dec. 9 USA Today report, the summary reveals that said tactics “did little to elicit valuable information or save American lives.” “It shows that the CIA’s actions a decade ago are a stain on our values and on our history,” said Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. “The release of this … report cannot remove that stain, but it can and does say to our people, and the world, that America is big enough to admit when it’s wrong and confident enough to learn from its mistakes.” Most of us knew that detainees at Guantanamo Bay were being tortured. For the first few years following 9/11, my indifference to their plight was blatantly obvious. Like most Americans, I wanted revenge. I wanted to exterminate al Qaeda and everyone sympathetic to its ideologies. I wanted justice for the families who would never see their loved ones again. But then my anger subsided. I realized that what I wanted wasn’t justice. It was revenge. And yes, the two are mutually exclusive. But for some, the definition of justice is still vague. The USA Today report quotes one Republican lawmaker voicing his opposition to the report’s findings. “(This) report is troubling for a variety of reasons, most of which are not found in its pages,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “Enhanced interrogation techniques employed by members of our intelligence community saved American lives, and Senate Democrats should thank these brave men and women who worked to protect us — not vilify them.” How long are we going to allow ourselves to be terrorized? I wrote a column earlier this year when former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a public comment about waterboarding, saying, “If I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists.” First all, using the words “baptize” and “waterboarding” in the same sentence is counterintuitive from a Christian perspective, as Christianity does not sanction torture in any form. It does, however, demand forgiveness. Sen. Feinstein is correct when she says “America is big enough to admit when it’s wrong and confident enough to learn from its mistakes.” We will be forgiven, both by the Almighty, ourselves and the rest of the world. We aren’t finished as a nation, and we will prevail. We really don’t have a choice, but it’s up to us to exercise restraint, both at home and abroad. The world holds us to the highest standard possible, and we have not been living up to it. The thing that separates us from archaic forms of theocratic government is that we value human rights. When we torture our enemies, we surrender the high ground. Sen. John McCain recently told members of the Senate, “When we fight to defend our security, we fight also for an idea that all men are endowed by the Creator with inalienable rights. Our enemies act without conscience. We must not.” That makes sense to me. Let’s look at the act of forgiveness, which is, in its essence, a selfish act, but a good one, nonetheless. When we forgive someone, we are not doing it for the other person. We are doing it for ourselves. The person who wronged us doesn’t have to live with the pain that comes from anger and resentment — we do. Resentment lives inside us and metastasizes like a cancer, eating away at our soul. We forgive so we can move on with our lives. The decision to resist taking vengeance against our enemies has nothing to do with being weak. It’s about “walking the walk.” We are a beacon of light to the world. When we “act without conscience,” as McCain says, we will find we are only suppressing it. Eventually, it will infect our soul like resentment, only worse. We might have messed up, but we’re still the good guys. The world needs to see us admit our mistakes, atone for them, and get back on our white horse. The world needs Americans. Ponder that! Jim Brock is managing editor of the Nebraska City News-Press. He can be reached at [email protected]. By Jim Brock More Content Now MailTribune.com By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 11, 2014 at 8:04 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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