The international media gave prominent coverage to the viewpoints and observations of former Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson when he said that the "war on terror" must, at some point, come to an end. The war was launched by former US President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 Al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington. A few weeks ago, in a speech on the legal validity of US drone attacks at the Oxford Union in Britain, Johnson said: “There will come a tipping point at which so many of the leaders and operatives of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates have been killed or captured that the group is no longer able to attempt or launch a strategic attack against the United States. At that point, we must be able to say to ourselves that our efforts should no longer be considered an armed conflict against Al-Qaeda and its associated forces." He also added: “Under that scenario, law enforcement and intelligence agents would go on pursuing individual fighters or groups, even those who are inspired by Al-Qaeda's ideology, with the military in a reserve role.” Johnson, a close confident of US President Barack Obama, has been mentioned as a possible US attorney general to succeed Eric Holder in Obama's second term. Johnson also emphasized that the "war" must be regarded as a finite, extraordinary and unnatural state of affairs. "We must not accept the current conflict, and all that it entails, as the new normal. Peace must be regarded as the norm toward which the human race continually strives." In this respect, we must realize two factors. One is that the persistent US-led drone attacks on suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts after crossing the airspace of some countries amounts to a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions. Secondly, the US act of keeping members of Al-Qaeda and their associates in custody for an indefinite period of time is in defiance of global public opinion. The almost hysterical fear of Al-Qaeda by the US political leadership has led to these violations being committed against a large number of people most of whom are Muslims. The US leadership is committing these crimes without taking into consideration that all human beings are free and that they are equal in the eyes of the law. Johnson's Oxford speech has triggered a worldwide debate about the legal and humanitarian violations being committed by the US military leadership. American newspapers carried extensive reports about the human rights violations committed in the name of the "war on terror" campaign. These included reports, published by the New York Times and the Washington Post, about the US military's readiness to reveal the identities of detainees held in secret CIA camps. In a reversal of Pentagon policy, the military for the first time notified the International Committee of the Red Cross of the identities of militants who were being held in secret at a camp in Iraq and another in Afghanistan run by US Special Operations Forces. The Red Cross was permitted to track the custody of dozens of the most dangerous suspected terrorists and foreign fighters captured on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a major advance for the Red Cross in its long fight to gain more information about these detainees. The military had previously insisted that disclosing any details about detainees at its secret camps could tip off other militants and jeopardize counterterrorism missions. The newspaper reports were mainly based on revelations made by three senior US military officials. American newspapers also carried reports about the inhuman torture meted out to terror suspects. The CIA began jailing suspects in 2002 and its detention program for Al-Qaeda leaders was the most secretive component of an extensive regime of detention and interrogation put into place by the US government after the 9/11 attacks and the war in Afghanistan. The Red Cross is allowed access to almost all American military prisons and battlefield detention sites in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Special Operations camps have been excluded. Even though the secret prisons run by the CIA were closed following an order from Obama, the military continues to operate these camps. Newspaper reports also showed that the CIA secret prison operatives employed methods of torture, including mock executions against Al-Qaeda terrorist Abdul Rahim Al-Nashiri. Red Cross officials saw revolvers and a power drill in the cell where Al-Nashiri was held. The terrorist was captured in November 2002 and held for about four years in secret CIA prisons in Afghanistan and some other countries before being transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. While being interrogated, Al-Nashiri was waterboarded twice. In another incident he was hooded and restrained and threatened with a gun and a power drill to frighten him into talking. According to a newspaper report, Al-Nashiri is one of three Al-Qaeda leaders who have been subjected to such inhuman torture. — Hassan Tahsin is an Egyptian writer and political analyst. He can be reached at [email protected]
