Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Torture: The stain that doesn’t go away, and the effects it keeps having

Greg Mitchell has a good piece on a soldier who killed herself after being pressed to participate in torture as part of interrogations early in the Iraq war. The piece strikes me as credible. I do think that until there is a complete investigation of what was done in our names, in part by the ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Jill Torrance/Getty Images
Jill Torrance/Getty Images
Jill Torrance/Getty Images

Greg Mitchell has a good piece on a soldier who killed herself after being pressed to participate in torture as part of interrogations early in the Iraq war. The piece strikes me as credible.

Greg Mitchell has a good piece on a soldier who killed herself after being pressed to participate in torture as part of interrogations early in the Iraq war. The piece strikes me as credible.

I do think that until there is a complete investigation of what was done in our names, in part by the military but mainly by civilians involved in intelligence, that the stain will be with us, mentally, politically and socially. We need a truth commission. 

The above photo is taken from the burial service of Spc. Alyssa Peterson.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

Read More On George W. Bush | Health | Human Rights | Military

Latest

The Year-End AUKUS Push

Will the Cease-Fire Change Israel’s Strategy?

Israel Weighing Special Court for Palestinian Suspects in Oct. 7 Massacre

South Korea Offers a Chance to Modernize Old Alliances

Jordan’s Teetering Balancing Act
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    Israel Weighing Special Court for Palestinian Suspects in Oct. 7 Massacre
  2. 2
    Solving the Mystery of Henry Kissinger’s Reputation
  3. 3
    Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
  4. 4
    America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
  5. 5
    Jordan’s Teetering Balancing Act
  6. 6
    Britain’s Navy Is Diminished. Its Ambitions Are Not.

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.

Trending

  1. Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
    Argument
    Annie Sparrow

  2. Britain’s Navy Is Diminished. Its Ambitions Are Not.
    Dispatch
    Alexander Wooley

  3. Why Xi Thinks He Got the Better of Biden
    Analysis
    James Crabtree

  4. Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
    Obituary
    Michael Hirsh

  5. Jordan’s Teetering Balancing Act
    Analysis
    Marta Vidal