Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (ret.) Calls for Truth Commission to Revisit Bush Interrogation Policies

In the January/February 2011 edition of The Atlantic, David Freed reported that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (ret.) is calling for a "truth commission" to revisit the Bush administration's interrogation policies.  He reasons that although a truth commission might not render justice (for which there is currently no political will to pursue), it might help the nation learn from it's mistakes and in so doing, prevent further (and perhaps more barbaric) transgressions in the future.  "If we do not find out what happened, he is quoted as saying in May 2009, "we are doomed to repeat it." 

Freed notes that the retired general's pursuit of truth and commitment to integrity has come at a price.  'The lucrative consulting jobs that have come to many of his retired peers have eluded Sanchez: not a single company doing business with the federal government has ever contacted him about full-time employment.  Fellow flag officers he once considered friends have shunned him, he says, as "radioactive." ' His situation is symptomatic of a system wherein the higher one climbs in rank, the more one is expected to conform to the amoral rules that govern (or fail to govern) the conduct of the political, corporate and financial elite above.  

Photo credit: Sarah Wilson

While there is room for debate on the moral ambiguity of decision-making in the complex world of international relations, the political-corporate establishment's apparent belief in the necessity of the Bush administration's interrogation program is not to be questioned; yet it is precisely this assumption that is arguably corroding the moral fiber- i.e. the legitimacy - of this nation and its position of leadership in the world.  Security and prosperity are ultimately preserved by power but power without legitimacy- power without accountability -is cancerous and antithetical to democracy.  That is the fundamental dilemma- moral, political and existential -the President created when he decided to authorize torture. 

Sanchez states, "As a Christian, I must do what's right regardless of what my personal consequences are, and that's what I have embarked on.  It's not just a duty for me as a believer.  It's also a duty to my subordinates and to all those young men and women who sacrificed their lives for this nation.  And it's just appalling to me that I have fellow general officers and superiors who've not had the courage to do that."