Timing of news release is interesting

A few weeks ago we had an event occur that was widely reported -- after all it was news -- but it said a lot more about our political system than about the subject in question.

Our Senate, still controlled by the Democratic majority, issued a report on a committee's investigation into our CIA's interrogation practices after the 9-11 attack in New York City. The timing apparently was important because after the newly-elected Senate members are sworn in, the report might not have been made public. As citizens of the United States, we were informed -- whether we needed to know or not, wanted to know or not -- of these supposed illegal acts against suspected terrorists. Whether we had an opinion about the actions taken by the CIA, or even knew beforehand that they might have gone on, we heard it criticized from all too many sources.

And, strictly in my opinion, that is exactly the problem with the way political pressures affect our lives and dictate the actions of the politicians who are established in our nation's capitol. It seems for several days every potential presidential candidate was in the news. They used every available opportunity to express an opinion on the topic, or if they tried to get through an interview without discussing it, a media person asked their opinion in front of an open microphone with the television cameras rolling. What we were offered was an opinion by individuals on both sides of the judgment issued in the committee's report. Few, if any, really meaningful details come out in those interviews. Terms like "water boarding" were used with little or no explanation of what it really means, or how often it was used, and on how many individuals it was used. The frequently used generic term "beatings" is almost open-ended when you take into account spanking -- a means of discipline in my youth -- which in court today is referred to as child abuse.

Again, this is my personal opinion, but it seems some of our more prominent leaders did more damage to our nation's image by going public with their negative comments than the actual report. The comments by many of our elected leaders cried out how disastrous this report is to our worldwide image when it was they who sought the release of it to the public. We would really have to ask the citizens on the streets of London, Paris, Geneva and Moscow how they feel about us after the report was made public, or if they even heard the comments to know if it damaged or tarnished our image. My feeling is simply that our leaders, and future presidential candidate Hillary Clinton were among the most visible critics and they should not try to destroy our nation if they are serious about wanting to lead it some day.

When situations like this come up, I wish the executives of (particularly television) news outlets and politicians would remember the truth brought out in a 1992 movie about the Marine Corp titled "A Few Good Men." The main characters are Marine Col. Jessup played by Jack Nicholson (one of my least favorite actors) and Lt. David Kaffee as the Navy prosecutor played by Tom Cruise in a trial concerning the noncombat death of a Marine at the hands of his comrades.

Two lines, spoken in this movie seem to be appropriate when we try to view this activity and have such little true knowledge of the circumstances. We have the luxury of making a judgment about what we are told, but we have no idea of what it takes to keep America safe. We hear words like brutal, torture and illegal interrogation -- but we don't have the responsibility for our nation's security as does the CIA.

In the movie, when Col. Jessup is on the stand, he responds to one of Lt. Kaffee's questions with the statement "you don't really want to know." I think he expresses the truth of where most of us are if we are really honest with ourselves. And, when he sums up his position on the case involving the "crime," he probably uses words that we all should consider when we judge those unnamed individuals who made the decisions so easily criticized in the report. His response goes like this: "My existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives."

There are all kinds of jobs that must be done to keep our society functioning. Some are unpleasant and not many people want to do them, but they must be done. Thank God for people who work in our cities' sewers, where few of us want to work and thank God for those who are abused for doing what they need to do to keep us safe.

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Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County who has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Editorial on 12/31/2014