Emulating Our Adversaries, Betraying Our National Values

President Trump ’s appointment of Gina Haspel as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency has revived memories of the abuses the CIA committed during George W. Bush’s administration. The appointment is indeed deeply troubling, since Haspel ran one of the Agency’s infamous overseas “black sites” that featured “enhanced interrogation” techniques (a cynical euphemism for torture). But as I point out in a newNational Interest Onlinearticle, Haspel ’s conduct is the symptom of a much deeper problem. Both during the Cold War and the war on terror, too many U.S. officials have succumbed to the temptation to combat evil behavior with evil behavior. In the process, they have undermined and imperiled fundamental American values.There is no question that communist powers and radical Islamic terrorists are morally odious adversaries. The United States rightly condemned Moscow ’s subjugation of Eastern Europe and the Kremlin’s global subversion campaigns against other societies. But Washington’s conduct was hardly exemplary, and as the Cold War continued, U.S. behavior became increasingly questionable. Especially shameful were those cases in which Washington subvert ed and overthrew democratic governments to help install “friendly dictators.” There is now indisputable evidence that the United States was involved in such disreputable moves against elected governments inIran,Guatemala,Chile, and other countries. Indeed, U.S. leaders seemed toprefer pliab...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 26, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs