Journalist Mark Danner lectured on U.S. torture abroad in a talk at the Pyle Center Thursday night. Danner, who has written for The New Yorker, New York Review of Books and Harper's, discussed the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, the subsequent public outrage, and the eventual public apathy on the subject. His lecture was also based on his book, \Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror.""
Danner explained the photos of the abuse first led to public anger but soon helped to bolster the Bush administration's claims that the torture was a result of ""a few bad apples."" The images released were so shocking, he said, it was difficult for U.S. citizens to believe it was procedural abuse.
While the ""bad apple"" defense has often been used by governments accused of torture, Danner said, the U.S. engaged in ""systemic"" torture, citing about 70 deaths and several hundred incidents under investigation. How well these numbers reflect the actual amount of torture is impossible to determine, Danner said.
UW-Madison graduate student Ben Turner said he thought the talk was eye-opening. ""I thought it was great-just how it showed the systemic nature of [the torture],"" he said.
In an opinion piece he wrote for The New York Times, ""We are all torturers now,"" Danner discussed how the confirmation of Alberto Gonzalez as U.S. Attorney General implicated all Americans in the torture of prisoners abroad.
""After Mr. Gonzales is confirmed,"" Danner wrote, ""the road back-to justice, order and propriety-will be very long. Torture will belong to us all.""
Danner said he ""came to political consciousness"" during the Watergate hearings and acquired a very specific sense of public justice. When crimes come to light they are investigated and eventually punished, Danner said. It is in the punishment that society can return to normalcy.
In this case, because no high-level officials were implicated or even seriously investigated, Danner said, justice has not been served.
Danner accused the mainstream press of either ignoring or burying initial signs of the U.S. torture, including a press release by the U.S. Army saying it was investigating possible torture.
It was not until photos of the abuse were released, Danner said, that the media picked up on the story.
""If there weren't pictures, there is no story,"" Danner said.
UW-Madison senior Aimee Dreiss had read Danner's book for a political science class. ""I find it really interesting how [the scandal] has gone away and how people aren't really talking about it. I think he dealt with that a lot,"" she said.
Danner pointed out that despite a great deal of evidence that U.S. torture abroad is systematic, many Americans simply fail to see or accept the evidence.
""The question is, whether anyone is listening,"" Danner said.
