Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter: on Homeland Security
Alberto Gonzales:
High premium on quick info from captured terrorists
Aside from the humanitarian aspects, it is well known that, under excruciating torture, a prisoner will admit almost any suggested crime. Such confessions are, of course, not admissible in trials in civilized nations. Some of our leaders have found
that it is easy to forgo human rights for those who are considered to be subhuman, or "the enemy combatants."Quoting America's new attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, the policy "places a high premium on
the ability to quickly obtain information from captured terrorists and their sponsors in order to avoid further atrocities against American civilians." He justifies an extension of the program permitting CIA agents to deal with suspects in foreign
prison sites by claiming that the ban of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment does not apply to American interrogations of foreigners overseas.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.129
Sep 26, 2006
Bill Clinton:
Signed Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
In August 1957, President Eisenhower announced a proposal to ban the further testing of nuclear explosives, and faltering progress has been made since that time.
While I was president, there were strict global limits on the testing of any explosive above 150 kilotons, which at that time was the smallest that could be monitored.
Subsequently, it became technologically feasible to detect very small explosions, and a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was evolved.
Although President Bill Clinton signed the treaty and pledged that it would not be violated, the most recent American budget refers, for the 1st time, to a list of possible US tests that would violate the treaty.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.142-143
Sep 26, 2006
Democratic Party:
Excessive use of our military breeds more terrorists
Among Republicans, the percentage endorsing diplomacy in preference to military action is minimal, while Democrats take the opposite point of view.
In the approach to combating terrorism, 2/3 of Republicans believe that use of overwhelming force is best, while an even larger proportion of Democrats think that, although our armed forces should be used when our nation's security is threatened,
excessive use of military action tends to increase animosity against our country and breed more terrorists. This sharp and growing difference over the issue of whether international disputes can be better resolved by diplomacy or by military
action is now the most accurate predictor of party affiliation--more important than gay marriage, homosexuality, or abortion.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p. 9-10
Sep 26, 2006
Dick Cheney:
Don't prohibit US military forces from degrading detainees
Republican senators have proposed legislation that would prohibit the US military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" of detainees, or from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and would set uniform standards for
interrogating anyone detained by the Defense Department. These powerful Republican senators have quoted comments from 15 top-ranking military officers: "The abuse of prisoners hurts America's cause in the war on terror, endangers US service members who
might be captured by the enemy, and is anathema to the values Americans have held dear for generations."Representing the Bush administration, Vice President Cheney has made strenuous efforts to block the legislation, and the White House has warned
that the $442 billion defense bill would be vetoed, claiming that it "would restrict the president's authority to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attacks and bring terrorists to justice."
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.131-132
Sep 26, 2006
Dwight Eisenhower:
1957: ban nuclear testing
In August 1957, President Eisenhower announced a proposal to ban the further testing of nuclear explosives, and faltering progress has been made since that time.
While I was president, there were strict global limits on the testing of any explosive above 150 kilotons, which at that time was the smallest that could be monitored.
Subsequently, it became technologically feasible to detect very small explosions, and a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was evolved.
Although President Bill Clinton signed the treaty and pledged that it would not be violated, the most recent American budget refers, for the 1st time, to a list of possible US tests that would violate the treaty.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.142-143
Sep 26, 2006
George W. Bush:
OpEd: permanent Patriot Act legalizes abuse of civil liberty
Following the attacks of 9/11, the US government overreacted by detaining more than 1,200 innocent men throughout America. Almost all of them were Arabs or Muslims.To legalize such abuses of civil liberties, the Patriot Act was hurriedly enacted, with
a number of temporary provisions scheduled to expire in 2005. The president has called for the law to be expanded and made permanent, but even the conservative "patriots" have deplored such provisions as authorization for federal agents to search
people's homes and businesses secretly, to confiscate property without any deadline or without giving notice that the intrusion has taken place, and to collect without notice personal information on American citizens, including their medical histories,
books checked out of libraries, and goods they purchase. The government can now seize an entire database--all the medical records of a hospital or all the files of an immigration group--when it is investigating a single person.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.118-119
Sep 26, 2006
George W. Bush:
No nuclear restrictions on India, even though NPT rejected
In rejecting or evading almost all nuclear arms control agreements negotiated during the past 50 years, the US has now become the prime culprit in global nuclear proliferation. Former secretary of defense Robert McNamara summed up his concerns in the
May/June 2005 issue of "Foreign Policy" magazine: "I would characterize current US nuclear weapons policy as immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary and dreadfully dangerous."India conducted nuclear test explosions in 1998.
The key inducement for NPT membership is that those in compliance will have exclusive access to highly sensitive nuclear technology. As a further move that weakened the non-proliferation effort,
President Bush has announced plans to lift these restrictions and grant this privilege to India, which has rejected the NPT. This is a clear incitement for other nations to violate the treaty's restraints.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.136-138
Sep 26, 2006
Jimmy Carter:
Even conservatives deplore parts of the Patriot Act
Following the attacks of 9/11, the US government overreacted by detaining more than 1,200 innocent men throughout America. Almost all of them were Arabs or Muslims.To legalize such abuses of civil liberties, the Patriot Act was hurriedly enacted, with
a number of temporary provisions scheduled to expire in 2005. The president has called for the law to be expanded and made permanent, but even the conservative "patriots" have deplored such provisions as authorization for federal agents to search
people's homes and businesses secretly, to confiscate property without any deadline or without giving notice that the intrusion has taken place, and to collect without notice personal information on American citizens, including their medical histories,
books checked out of libraries, and goods they purchase. The government can now seize an entire database--all the medical records of a hospital or all the files of an immigration group--when it is investigating a single person.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.118-119
Sep 26, 2006
Jimmy Carter:
Military budget of $400B is more than rest of world combined
While there has been a sharp downward trend in worldwide expenditures for weapons during the past 20 years, the US has continued to increase its military budget every year.
It now exceeds $400 billion annually, equal to the total in all other nations combined. The next largest military budget is Russia's, which is 1/6 as large.
The only arms race is one that we are having with ourselves. One reason for this enormous expenditure is that 20,000 sailors and marines are deployed in ships afloat and almost
300,000 additional troops are stationed in more than 120 countries, with military bases in 63 of them. Since I left office, American presidents have intervened about 50 times in foreign countries.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.198-199
Sep 26, 2006
John McCain:
Abusing prisoners hurts America's cause in War on Terror
Senator John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, has criticized the way detainees have been treated by US forces, and he and other Republican senators have proposed legislation that would prohibit the US military from engaging in "cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" of detainees, or from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and would set uniform standards for interrogating anyone detained by the Defense Department. These powerful Republican senators have quoted comments
from 15 top-ranking military officers: "The abuse of prisoners hurts America's cause in the war on terror, endangers US service members who might be captured by the enemy, and is anathema to the values Americans have held dear for generations."
McCain said, "The enemy we fight has no respect for human life or human rights. They don't deserve our sympathy. But this isn't about who they are. This is about who we are."
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.131-132
Sep 26, 2006
John Warner:
Strenuous opposition to prohibiting prisoner harsh treatment
Senator John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, has criticized the way detainees have been treated by US forces, and he, Armed Forces Committee Chairman John Warner, and other
Republican senators have proposed legislation that would prohibit the US military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" of detainees, or from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and would set uniform standards for
interrogating anyone detained by the Defense Department. These powerful Republican senators have quoted comments from 15 top-ranking military officers: "The abuse of prisoners hurts America's cause in the war on terror, endangers
US service members who might be captured by the enemy, and is anathema to the values Americans have held dear for generations."
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.131-132
Sep 26, 2006
Republican Party:
Few Republicans prefer diplomacy to military action
Among Republicans, the percentage endorsing diplomacy in preference to military action is minimal, while Democrats take the opposite point of view.
In the approach to combating terrorism, 2/3 of Republicans believe that use of overwhelming force is best, while an even larger proportion of Democrats think that, although our armed forces should be used when our nation's security is threatened,
excessive use of military action tends to increase animosity against our country and breed more terrorists. This sharp and growing difference over the issue of whether international disputes can be better resolved by diplomacy or by military
action is now the most accurate predictor of party affiliation--more important than gay marriage, homosexuality, or abortion.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p. 9-10
Sep 26, 2006
Page last updated: Aug 09, 2015