The President's Veto

Jamie Smith, a student in my Jurisprudence Seminar, has these thoughtful comments and questions in response to the President's veto of a bill that would have banned various interrogation techniques, including waterboarding.

        "I was stunned to learn of President Bush's veto of the ban on waterboarding.  The ban would not just have applied to water boarding, but also to burning, beating, the use of dogs, stripping detainees, and even forcing them to perform or mimic sexual acts.  Basically, every act from the infamous Abu Ghraib photos that shocked and disgusted the American public has been declared by President Bush, to not only be legal, but to be "valuable" in the war on terror.  Valuable?  Really?  As a student in Professor Scaperlanda's Jurisprudence Seminar, the first thought that came to mind when reading about this veto, is the human dignity of every individual.  For many weeks now, our class has discussed the idea that human beings have inherent and inviolate dignity, simply from "being".  My question is, "does this apply to terrorists who want to kill Americans"?  "Is there a way to treat prisoners with dignity while still getting valuable information from them"?  To answer this question, I thought about my reaction, as well as others, to the Abu Ghraib photos when they were first released.  I knew, as well as others, that the prisoners in the photos were terrorists, that they hated Americans, and that they had participated in evil plans to kill and harm America.  But when looking at the photos, my reaction was of disgust.  Why woud I be disgusted to see humiliating photos of a complete stranger that hated America and my way of life?  Perhaps, simply because the photo was of another human being.  Apart from his conduct or the sins he may have committed, he is human, just like me.  And because of that, without  myself even having been in such a humiliating situation, I felt and knew at the core of my being when viewing those photos, that they were "wrong", that it is inhuman to violate the dignity of any human being in such a way.  But at the same time, I'm torn between this basic truth of human dignity and the atrocities committed by these prisoners.  I'm not quite sure how to reconcile these two issues.

           I can say that the possible consequence of President Bush's veto will have not just an impact the law but human rights theories as well.  What does this say about America and how we value the individual?  And what message are we sending to other countries by participating in such practices?  If we do not recognize the dignity of foreign individuals, I question then, how much we recognize the dignity of our own citizens."

Responses would be most welcome.