Dodd on Gonzales

Senator Christopher Dodd has given a moving speech in the Senate opposing the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as the next Attorney General. Dodd summarizes his opposition into two points:

One, because in a nation founded on the principle of human freedom and dignity, he has endorsed the position that torture is permissible;

And two, in a nation dedicated to the proposition that all are equal and none is above the law, he has suggested that the President of the United States, acting as Commander-in-Chief, has the right to act in violation of laws and treaties prohibiting torture - and may authorize subordinates to do the same.

On the applicability of the Geneva Convention to prisoners in the Afghan war, Dodd says, "What is most troubling is that Mr. Gonzales argued for a view of the Geneva Conventions that was inconsistent with American law, American values, and America's self-interest." Getting right to the heart of the matter in regards to torture and America's position in the world, Dodd asks,

What does it say about our Nation's commitment to the rule of law that this nominee will not say that torture is against the law?

What does it say about our Nation's commitment to equal justice under law that this nominee would have the President and his subordinates be above the law?

How do we explain this to the citizens of our country, to the citizens of other nations, and most especially to the citizens of tomorrow - to our young people who will inherit this country as we leave it to them? Will we tell them that "torture is wrong - unless the President orders it?"

The Senator compares this moral ambiguity to the clarity expressed in the Nuremberg trials of the Nazi German leadership after World War II. Dodd closes by invoking Lincoln:

In his second State of the Union address, Lincoln said that, in giving or denying freedom to slaves, "We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last, best hope of earth."

The issue then was how our nation treats the enslaved. The issue today is in some respects no less profound: how our nation treats its enemies and its captives, including those in places like Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay.

By treating them according to our standards -- not theirs - we feed the flame of liberty and justice that has rightly led our nation on its journey for these past two and a quarter centuries.