When New Yorker investigative journalist Jane Mayer visited Democracy Now last summer to talk about her new book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals (for which she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship), the use of the word torture in our nation’s paper of record was reserved almost exclusively when writing about other countries, not our own. What is commonly referred to as ”harsh interrogation methods” or even ”brutal interrogation methods” when discussing American Military tactics becomes ”torture” when the talk is of another country meting out the punishment.

In 2004, the issue of using any term aside from torture to describe activities of the U.S. Government by the New York Times became such a glaring issue, they saw fit to address it in a letter from Daniel Okrent, then Public Editor. (No longer on their website, a copy is here) He tackled the issue head-on:

The specific issue is the use of “abuse” rather than “torture” to describe certain actions of American military personnel, intelligence officers, and private subcontractors. I asked assistant managing editors Craig Whitney and Allan M. Siegal for comment as they are, respectively, in charge of the news desk (where front page headlines get written) and all matters of language and style. Both were surprised when I raised the issue; both noted some substantive definitional distinctions between “abuse” and “torture”; both asserted that there is no Times policy one way or another; and both acknowledged that readers may be right.

It is a conversation they are still having today. Now however, the evidence seems to be confirming so many of the frank allegations of torture that Mayer layed out in her book last year. You may remember what President Bush said in 2006:

We knew that Zubaydah had more information that could save innocent lives. But he stopped talking. As his questioning proceeded, it became clear that he had received training on how to resist interrogation. And so, the CIA used an alternative set of procedures. These procedures were designed to be safe...the United States does not torture.

For those interested in continuing this discussion, Jane Mayer will be here on May 19 with New York Times columnist Frank Rich. You can be sure that they will be furthering the conversation. 

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