The Enemy Is Us

J O E L

H I L L I K E R C O L U M N I S T

The Enemy Is Us September 2, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com

Rather than going after terrorists, Washington is attacking its own.

W

hat’s the next step in the Obama administration’s fight against Muslim extremists—its

“overseas contingency operation,” as it calls it? Going after

CIA

operatives.

It’s a radical step into murky territory that gives a number of advantages to avowed enemies of the United States. A strong case can be made that it could lead to former high-ranking Bush administration officials—even President Bush—being indicted by foreign governments. As the U.S. argues over which interrogation techniques are torture, we are forced to confront the limits of American power: Possessing history’s most fearsome military does nothing to protect a nation whose leaders believe that battering and shackling its own intelligence agents will produce happier, mellower enemies and greater safety for its people. Back in 2004, the Justice Department investigated several CIA interrogations of terror detainees for possible abuses. It charged only one individual, and he was later acquitted. Last week, however, Attorney General Eric Holder named a special prosecutor to reopen those cases. “A review is never going to be final anymore now,” lamented Dick Cheney. Much has been written about the obvious chilling effect this action will have on American interrogators. It means that even if they scrupulously follow the rules, someone could change the rules down the road. It means they face the axe or even jail time pending review of their actions by patently liberal officials. To ensure that future interrogations are conducted according to the Obama administrations exacting standards, a newly created organ called the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group will supervise them. The Wall Street Journal explains, “Interrogation techniques will be limited to those in the Army Field Manual or that are ‘noncoercive,’ which suggests more constrained than a big-city police department. … This means that the class of person who blows up skyscrapers, American embassies or the USS Cole would spend less time under a bare light bulb than a domestic robbery suspect.” Of course, a detainee now knows exactly what to expect and how far his interrogator is allowed to go. He knows the president is looking over the interrogator’s shoulder, and that one false move would end this guy’s career. And this is supposed to make America safer.

“[I]t’s a death sentence for an effective war on terror,” wrote Daniel Henninger. “It makes what’s left of the war—telephone wiretaps or monitoring money transfers—vulnerable to a steady stream of congressional and legal objection.” The people the president is satisfying by implementing these steps do not want to make America stronger. They believe America deserves to be knocked down a peg or three. The policy of handcuffing interrogations and handing the agents’ slimmed-down playbook to future terrorist detainees should further their goals quite nicely. To the extent that these people have a constructive goal for America’s future, it is that the country would, having atoned for its arrogance, be able to take its seat among equals in what is supposedly a happy family of nations. This would, in their view, represent an improvement in America’s standing in the world. Eric Holder and his boss are working diligently toward this end. With deadly effectiveness, they are succeeding. The glaring problem, though, with the idea that a prostrate America is an improved America—that submission to other nations will earn their admiration—is that those other nations are basically hungry to see the U.S. go down. It is absurd to interpret their eagerness to help President Obama dismantle American power as a sign of friendship. Last spring, visiting Berlin, Attorney General Holder was asked if he would cooperate with foreign or international tribunals to prosecute Bush-era officials for how they fought the “war on terror.” His answer, as Andrew McCarthy showed in the National Review, was essentially that Washington wouldn’t arrest anyone or hand former officials over for foreign trials, but it would fulfill any “evidentiary requests” to help build legal cases. That’s right: If a foreign or international court wants to try U.S. officials, the White House is there to supply the evidence they need. Whatever is necessary to “clean up” America’s international reputation. You can be sure, those requests are going to pour in. A number of foreigners are already getting busy. The United Nations “special rapporteur on torture” has said that George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld should be tried for torture. A Spanish court is investigating Bush administration officials for torture of Guantánamo Bay prisoners. Human rights groups in France and Germany have said they want to bring legal action against Mr. Rumsfeld. Surely there are some enterprising lawyers in the Organization of the Islamic Conference that would love to file a case or two as well. And they’re all being egged on by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). This radical New Yorkbased legal advocacy group, which sells “Torture Team” playing cards of Bush-era officials, “has been attempting to convince Germany, France, Spain, and other countries to file war-crime indictments against former Bush administration officials, including President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld,” McCarthy wrote. “In representing America’s enemies, CCR has collaborated with many private lawyers, who also volunteered their services—several of whomare now working in the Obama Justice Department” (emphasis mine). Yes, the new Justice Department is stacked with people who have legally represented al Qaeda and other Guantánamo detainees. Is it any wonder, then, that they want to share evidence with foreigners eager to imprison former U.S. officials? That they want to put CIA anti-terrorism operatives on the

chopping block? That they want to prioritize the international legal order over America’s national law— and its clear national interests? No—it’s no wonder. Still, the speed at which they’re moving takes one’s breath away. Look at the Bible’s key prophecies about the major geopolitical events we’re about to witness: half of Jerusalem being forcibly seized by Muslims (Zechariah 14:2); Iran pushing at Europe and getting wiped out (Daniel 11:40); a destitute Israel asking Germany for military protection (Hosea 5:13). There’s an unseen but clear denominator in all of these scenarios: the startling absence of the nation that, until recently, has been among the most active participants in these arenas: the United States. Match those conspicuous omissions with dozens of other prophecies that foretell America’s downfall, and the truth becomes unequivocally clear: The world’s mightiest superpower is about to be conquered. As inconceivable as that may seem given America’s military supremacy, watching the present administration turn on its own intelligence agents so as to legally equip its enemies makes it easier to fathom. • Joel Hilliker’s column appears every Wednesday. To e-mail Joel Hilliker, click here. Please note that, unless you request otherwise, your comment may appear on our feedback page. To read more articles by this author, click here.

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