The Dark Side, Part 6 of 6

In the sixth and final section of The Dark Side, Jane Mayer critically reviews the actions taken by the Bush Administration following the events on September 11th. She begins by questioning the morals of the administration and the major players in the administration. She refers mainly to the inhumane treatment of prisoners in black sites and detention camps around the world. She says, "Just because you think you can do these things, it doesn't mean you should. There's a gap between what's right, and what's legal" (Mayer 310). In defense, the Bush Administration enacted certain policies only to improve the welfare of the country. Such atrocious acts would not be committed if they could not be justified; the United States sought to obtain valuable intelligence about terrorists abroad. Mayer cites Jay Rockefeller, the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as having said, "I have heard nothing to suggest that information obtained from enhanced interrogation techniques has prevented an imminent terrorist attack, And I have herd nothing that makes me think the information obtained from these techniques could not have been obtained though traditional interrogation methods" (Mayer 330). She does, however, concede that the extreme measures taken by the administration are understandable seeing as the weeks following 9/11 were frantic, but she then goes on to reprimand the administration for continuing its policies for seven years after the event.

"The Bush Administration invoked fear flowing from the attacks on September 11 to institute a policy of deliberate cruelty that would have been unthinkable on September 10." (Mayer 328). Mayer vehemently criticizes the Bush administration for the policies it instituted saying that the administration played off of and injected fear into the minds of the American people. It was this that allowed the many legal follies to go unnoticed during Bush's years as president. Angrily, Mayer goes on to refute one of Bush's most prideful statements, that there hasn't been a terrorist attack on US soil since September 11th. Mayer argues that, while Bush would like to believe it is his success as president that has caused this to occur, it could simply be that there has been an absence of terrorist threats. Finally, Mayer takes a swing at the Terrorist Surveillance Program which, according to a former official of the NSA, "has produced nothing" (Mayer 333). The narrative concludes with the final thought that while the Bush Administration may have meant well in trying to protect America, its expansion of presidential powers, its inhumane treatment of 'terrorists,' and its curbing of civil liberties were inexcusable. Most of all, though, the mistake between CIA officials in not communicating with the FBI about terror suspects that would later be involved in 9/11...was the biggest blunder of all.

The Dark Side, Part 5 of 6

In the fifth section of The Dark Side, Jane Mayer depicts a chilling image of the treatment of detainees in CIA black sites, off-US soil prisons where "enemy combatants" were detained. Khalid Seikh Mohammed was one of the several hundred "enemy combatants" to make a trip to a CIA black site. While at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Mohammed went through torturous interrogations. While the President once said in a 2005 press meeting, "This country does not believe in torture," what occurred in Gitmo could not be defined otherwise...at least not by any sensible person. Lawyers working for Bush's administration had made "enhanced interrogations" legal where torture was essentially anything, but death. Upon Mohammed's arrival, he requested a lawyer, but was not given one. CIA officials believed that it was imperative that he not be given a lawyer. Mayer writes, "According to Tenet, Mohammed told his captors that he wouldn't talk until he was given a lawyer. 'Had that happened, I am confident that we would have obtained none of the information he had in his about imminent threats against the American people" (Mayer 271). Had he been given a lawyer, the "enhanced interrogations" would not have taken place and they would not have obtained the information they sought. During these interrogations, he was coerced into giving up information. He would have to tell them something. In some cases, "He wanted the interrogators to stop, he said, so he told them whatever they seemed to want to hear" (Mayer 277). Mohammed is a prime example of those who went through "enhanced interrogations."

Officials at black sites and detention camps put prisoners through many different forms interrogation all for the sake of obtaining information that may have been helpful to the cause of upholding national security. Among the many things prisoners went through included cavity searches which were used to "absolutely strip the detainee of any dignity...a process not just of getting information, but of utterly subordinating the detainee through humiliation" (Mayer 272). Among other form of interrogation were blasting loud noises into prisoners ears for days on end and having them sit in certain position, shackled to the wall. As long as death or the loss of organs wasn't involved, the detainees could legally go through out. After all, not only were they not on US soil, but they weren't even being 'tortured.' Khaled el-Masri was another detainee that went through the tortures of these black sites. During his first night in a black site, an English-speaking man, while interrogating him said, "You're in a country where no one knows about you. There's no rule of law. If you die, you will be buried here. No one will ever know" (Mayer 284). These must have been freightning words to hear. He could do nothing about it either. Detainees went through hell and they couldn't do anything to stop it.

The Dark Side, Part 4 of 6

In the fourth section of The Dark Side, Jane Mayer writes about the steps the executive branch took to authorize previously illegal practices such as the torture of detainees. Immediately following the September 11th attacks, Cheney, who had always been a proponent of expanding presidential powers, saw an opportunity to strengthen the executive branch and curb. Civil liberties were also curbed. While the Bush Administration was able to expand its powers, the way in which it was done was rather devious. The administration hired lawyers that intentionally misinterpreted law or formed certain laws to fit what they were looking for. In many cases, programs such as the Terrorist Surveillance Program rested on "flimsy legal opinions that they guarded closely so that no one could question the legal basis for the operations" (269). In fact, When an NSA lawyer attempted to examine the legal analysis on which the TSP rested upon, Addington, Cheney's chief of staff, sharply said, "The president decides who sees what, not you!" (Mayer 268). The White House could now spy on individuals. After all, the TSP was operating on a legal basis. The rights of individuals were effectively curbed. The reason in which the TSP was implemented was to prevent threats to national security from the inside of the United States. The White House was determined to keep the nation safe...even if it meant using conniving means to do so.

After 9/11, the Bush Administration wanted to make sure there would be no attacks on US soil. After the large blunder the CIA made in the failure to pass on information on terror suspects, the executive branch took the leisure of obtaining their own intelligence. Those in the white house, namely Attorney General Anthony Gonzales and VP Dick Cheney, sought to gain valuable information from terrorists. To do this, however, individuals would have to be forced from foreign lands which, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, was illegal. Gonzales said, "I don't see how terrorists who violate the laws of war can get the protections of the laws of war" ( 264). The two wouldn't accept no for an answer. Utilizing their expert team of lawyers, particularly two men by the names of John Yoo and Jack Goldsmith, the executive branch crafted laws in which terrorists could be taken off of foreign soil. Terrorists in foreign lands were defined as "enemy combatants" and could therefore be forced off of their land for interrogation. As for the interrogations themselves, torture was not allowed. Yoo came up with what were referred to as "enhanced interrogations" in which torture was defined as inflicting severe medical pain, the loss of organs, or death (Mayer 278). Goldsmith replaced Yoo when the administration was no longer satisfied with Yoo's performance. What Goldsmith did was what he didn't do; he disregarded his morals, although he was a man of morals, and allowed the laws to exist even though he knew they were unsubstantiated.

The Dark Side, Part 3 of 6

In the third section of Mayer's The Dark Side, a shocking revelation is made. While it would seem as though the terrorists who scarred the country on that fateful day would have planned for their attacks completely under the radar, that was not the case; the CIA, at several points in time, had information on individuals that would eventually prove significant to the attacks of September 11th. The CIA knew of several meetings, one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where members of Al-Qaeda were meeting. As they attempted to gather intelligence, a number of things fell through the cracks. The CIA was working with the Malaysians to obtain valuable information about the meeting. They were unable to record the conversation. When two marked individuals left for Bangkok, no one tracked them, they got away. Eventually, they found there way to Los Angeles where they were roaming abroad. "By March 2000 fully fifty or sixty individuals within the CIA knew that two Al Qaeda suspects ha come to America-but no one officially notified the FBI about this" (Mayer 153). It was the CIA's responsibility to notify the FBI of any domestic threats. From researched information, Mayer writes, "The two guys' names were just sitting in someone's outbox. It just didn't get done" (Mayer 16).

"What 9/11 is really all about was the lack of follow-up on these two people, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi" (Mayer 17). How could the CIA make such a gigantic blunder? Yes, while the CIA was attempting to track many other individuals, they had become caught up in a frenzy of work, but a blunder that cost the lives of many Americans is unforgivable. Mayer attempts to explain the blunder. A former top officer of the CIA stated, "The problem, he said, was not a lack of urgency, but rather a failure of management" (Mayer 16). He goes on to say, "In short, the errors were painfully mundane: misfiled paperwork, inattentive government employees, misunderstandings and miscommunications - just commonplace incompetence" (Mayer 16). The loss of countless American lives could have been prevented if the CIA were doing their jobs. It was not an inability to target those who threatened America, it was an inability to follow through on a task.

The Dark Side, Part 2 of 6

The second section of The Dark Side, author Jane Mayer writes about the actions taken by those in the executive branch immediately following the September 11th attacks. Threatened by foreign terrorists, those around the president (the president included) proceeded to act quickly so as uphold national security. The two men who held the most authority in the United States began at ground zero; they were to determine what enabled to terrorists to carry out their attacks. Bush and Cheney believed one of the reasons terrorists were able to attack the US was because the US was "soft...and that Bin Laden didn't feel threatened" by the United States (Mayer 56). The US had been introduced to an enemy that, although known, was never seen as a threat. However, as the result of an intelligence failure, the attacks were able to unfold. The President and Vice-President looked to conservatives on the right, seeking a means to best solve the national security crises. The executive branch, with the consultation of those on the right, came to the conclusion that "there was too much international law, too many civil liberties, too many constraints on the President's war powers, too many rights for defendants,...and too much meddling by Congress and the press" (Mayer 71).

Those in power determined that, in order to bolster national security and reduce terrorist threats, the executive branch needed to be granted more power and that achieving a secure nation would have to come at the expense of citizens giving up certain civil liberties. These endeavors could not be accomplished legally; they would act against the constitution. After September 11th, VP Cheney and others looked around America for the nation's smartest, most well-trained lawyers. Once an elite team of lawyers had been found, the executive branch "came up with legal justifications for a vast expansion of the government's power in waging war on terror" (Mayer 76). At the time, some in Bush's administration were skeptical of the means the administration was taking to deal with the new crises. Bush concluded that if what they were doing failed, they should at least leave the office stronger than it was when they entered it. It was through the lawyers that they could do this. The constitution would be abused, but it would happen behind closed doors. During the administration "The lawyers authorized previously illegal practices, including the secret capture and indefinite detention of suspects without charges" (Mayer 80).

The Dark Side, Part 1 of 6

The Dark Side, written by Jane Mayer, is a non-fiction narrative on the changing atmosphere of American ideals following the September 11th attacks. As the narrative begins, we are given a brief background on Former Vice-President Dick Cheney's involvement in top-secret programs during the Reagan Administration. His involvement in these programs was in an effort to prepare for worst-case scenarios such as an all-out nuclear war with the Soviet union. At the time, the threat of a Soviet attack was very real and those who were preparing for it took it very seriously. Mayer writes, "Every year, usually during congressional recesses, Cheney would disappear in the dead of the night. He left without explanation to his wife, Lynne Vincent Cheney, who was merely given a phone number where he could be reached in the event of emergency" (Mayer 1). The need for such secrecy faded as the Cold War came to an end, but Cheney's experience would be needed in the future. Never feeling the threat from outside groups, "Terrorism hadn't ranked anywhere near the top of the Bush administration's national security concerns in the beginning of the administration" (Mayer 6). Shortly after the Bush administration replaced Clinton's administration, combating terrorism would be one of the foremost issues of the day.

On September 11th, a series of events occurred that were unrivaled in US history; terrorist attacks had taken place in a number of locations on US soil. The nation was shocked, but no one was more prepared to handle the situation than Vice-President Cheney. Despite his Cold-War experience, which perfectly set him up for dealing with the situation, when an ultra-sensitive sensor that detected the presence of lethal substances in the white house - when it signaled, Cheney believed he had become contaminated. He believed the terrorists were targeting him through biological warfare. Because of this, he took a number of precautions such as taking a different route from the capitol to the white house in an armored car every single day. A change was seen in Cheney, a fearful one: "An old family friend found him changed after September 11, 'more steely, as if he was preoccupied by terrible things he couldn't talk about' " (Mayer 6). The executive branch and the entire country were shocked by the September 11th attacks, but that is not to say they were completely surprised. Al-Qaeda, they believed, was behind it. "Having underestimated Al Qaeda before the attacks, Bush and Cheney took aggressive steps to ensure that they would never get similarly blindsided again" (Mayer 5). It was these aggressive steps that set the stage for an expansion of presidential powers that would go against American ideals.

Honor's Voice, A Tale of Self-Identity and Ethical Choices Part 6

In the sixth and final section of Douglas Wilson's Honor's Voice, Lincoln's pre-president life is reviewed. Most notably, Wilson makes reference to a phrase Lincoln once used in a congressional speech: "the power to hurt" (Wilson 303). In Shakespeare's 94th sonnet, he essentially says that those who don't hurt, despite having to power to hurt, have a sense of superiority. According to Wilson, Lincoln possessed a quality similar to the one Shakespeare writes about: "The power to hurt...was curiously offset in his nature by something like its obverse, an inability to ignore the helpless" (Wilson 305). Once, as Lincoln's wife recalled, while Lincoln was crossing a prairie, he noticed a pig stuck in mud. Deliberating whether or not to help the pig, he passed on by, but, because of his conscience, he rushed back and saved the pig in distress. Stories like this, which defined Lincoln as a person, were not at all uncommon in his life.

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Although the story of Lincoln and the pig shows that Lincoln was a man of integrity, Lincoln was not the kind of person who completely devoted his life to service and helping others. In fact, he had more important, more self-oriented goals to accomplish. Wilson writes, "Rising in the world, which was apparently Lincoln's ambition from the start, seems to have meant a quest primarily for recognition or distinction" (Wilson 293). While this may seem selfish, it is only natural to strive for recognition and distinction. Everyone wants to have their recognizable place in the world. What is unique in Lincoln's case, though, is the fact that his yearning to achieve distinction led to a monumental feat in the service of helping others. In a nutshell, Wilson describes this thought, "As his wife observed, the world found out about Lincoln's hard-won resolution, for his rock-solid ability to keep his resolves once they were made would undergrid his performance as president. And that would make all the difference" (Wilson 323). The individual longing for distinction and upward mobility is neccesary, as it was in America during the time of Lincoln, to make advancements in society. There is, however, a danger in certain ambitious individuals. Luckily, Lincoln was not one of them.