[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 2, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H7216-H7217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PRISONER TORTURE IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I spoke in this Chamber 
about the U.N. report that outlined, in gruesome detail, prisoner abuse 
at detention facilities in Afghanistan--inmates beaten with electrical 
wires, hung from their wrists, and much worse. Now additional reporting 
by The Washington Post has revealed that U.S. officials knew for some 
time about this torture of prisoners by Afghan security forces.
  So what did our top people in Afghanistan do about these warnings? 
Apparently, not a thing.
  For years our Special Operations forces and CIA officials had been in 
and out of these prisons--dropping off detainees, meeting with Afghan 
authorities, taking advantage of the intelligence gathered there. We 
paid to rebuild one prison with the cold and chilling name Department 
124, which sits behind a concrete fortress near U.S. military 
headquarters in Kabul.
  It would be hard--actually, it would be impossible--to miss what was 
going on inside those walls; but for a long time, it was ignored--
nothing said, no meaningful oversight exerted. It wasn't until a few 
months ago, when the U.N. made it clear they were releasing a report 
detailing the torture, that our military commanders suddenly took 
notice and stopped sending prisoners to these facilities. In a flash, 
they instituted a monitoring program and human rights training.

                              {time}  1050

  It's embarrassing, Mr. Speaker. But it seems like our leadership was 
more concerned about public relations damage control than adherence to 
human rights norms and international law.
  The American people have sacrificed a lot for this war. And in 
return, they've been fed a lot of high-minded assurances that we're 
doing important work that advances American values. The name of this 
mission is Operation Enduring Freedom, but apparently we're not 
practicing what we preach in Afghanistan because torture has no place 
in free society, no place in a campaign that professes to be about 
human dignity and the rule of law.
  At a time when we're considering major cuts right here at home in 
lifesaving domestic programs so that we can get our fiscal house in 
order, how can we possibly justify spending billions of dollars every 
week on a military occupation that seems to be promoting and 
encouraging torture? We cannot wash our hands of this. We cannot avoid 
responsibility because this is happening on our watch.
  Torture, whether we're practicing it ourselves or just tacitly 
condoning it, isn't just reprehensible; it's bad national security 
policy as well. It represents the United States of America in the worst 
possible light and is surely a great recruitment tool for the 
terrorists. When it comes to international affairs, the greatest 
currency we have is our moral authority, but we continue to waste it by 
acting like outlaws instead of the greatest superpower on Earth.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come. It is time we had a national security 
approach that showcases the very best of America, one that demonstrates 
our decency and compassion, one that emphasizes diplomacy and 
reconciliation, one that puts civilian and humanitarian experts on the 
ground instead of 100,000 troops with guns.

[[Page H7217]]

  You don't need to invade a country to prove that America is strong or 
to keep America safe. That's the heart of my SMART security plan that I 
have been talking about for many years now. We've tried belligerence. 
We've tried force. And over the last decade--well, actually, we've 
tried all of this forever, and it just has not worked.
  It's time, Mr. Speaker, for this war to end. It's time to implement a 
SMART security platform. It is time now, Mr. Speaker.

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