Will Alberto Gonzoles

Renounce Torture?

Has Alberto Gonzales's loyalty to George W. Bush cost him his morality?

Alberto Gonzales has always been loyal to George W. Bush — and he has always been rewarded for it. Recently, though, his loyalty has meant ignoring his conscience, and Mr. Gonzales has had to sacrifice his morals for the sake of his career. He has found himself at the center of the controversy over the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay torture scandals. Now President Bush has nominated him to be Attorney General — the nation's top law enforcement official. Such a post requires a higher caliber of integrity; and Mr. Gonzales will need to enforce the laws of the United States, rather than look for ways to avoid them through legal loopholes. Will he rise to such a challenge? In his confirmation hearings to be U.S. Attorney General, will Alberto Gonzales renounce torture?

Alberto Gonzales met George W. Bush when he was running for governor of Texas in 1994 and Mr. Gonzales was a partner at the politically connected law firm Vinson & Elkins.¹ Once Bush was elected Governor, he appointed Gonzales to be his general counsel. Right away, Gozales demonstrated dedication and unwavering loyalty to Bush in legal matters both public and private — he even got Bush out of jury duty in a drunk driving case so Bush wouldn't have to disclose his conviction for driving while intoxicated.² After that, Bush promoted him to be Texas secretary of state; and later to the Texas Supreme Court.

In 2001 when Bush was appointed president, he brought Gonzales along with him as White House counsel. It was there that Gonzales's loyalty to Mr. Bush took a dangerous turn. Eager to please the politician who rewarded him so handsomely, Gonzales helped craft a legal defense to allow the Bush administration to engage in torture³.

Back in 2002, after capturing al Qaeda operations chief Abu Zubaida, the CIA tried every legally permissible interrogation technique to obtain information from him; but they were worried they weren't getting enough. So they asked for a legal strategy which could allow them to get around the laws against torture⁴. Leaping to the aid of the Bush administration, Alberto Gonzales chaired meetings with like minded conservative lawyers within the administration to prepare just such a strategy.⁵ The product of these meetings was a detailed memorandum which spelled out a legal defense the Bush administration could use to justify acts of torture.

The memo presented a striking departure from centuries of American prohibitions against torture. It contained justifications for causing horrific acts of violence in the name of national security; including techniques such as causing serious physical injury (up to the point of organ failure or death)⁶ and psychological harm (that does not have lasting effects beyond several months)⁷. It also included the suggestion that international prohibitions against torture might not apply to the U.S. government under certain circumstances.

By participating in the creation of such a memo, many say Gozales has had to part ways with some of his ethics in order to get the job done. Indeed the duties of general counsel to a governor or a president require creative legal thinking. The job calls on the counsel to strategize on ways to bend the law to suit the needs of the executive. Much like an accused killer is entitled to a legal defense, the counsel's jobs is not about what's right or wrong, but what's in the interest of his client.

But the job of Attorney General is very different. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement official in the country. If he is confirmed as Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales's job will be to uphold the law of the land, not to find ways around it. He may well be up to the challenge; but the American people need to know that if he becomes Attorney General, Gonzales will abandon his past positions on torture and will embrace the laws protecting human rights and civil liberties. The senate confirmation hearings will provide the perfect opportunity for Gonzales to clean the stains of on his record from his actions as White House counsel and rededicate himself to the principles of freedom and justice that America stands for. It will also provide the opportunity for Mr. Gonzales to reclaim his conscience.