January 22, 2015
The Arch
Ramapo College of New Jersey
When the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's Executive Summary of the Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program was released in December 2014, the assumption from most media venues was that nobody would read it. So they summarized it for us in various ways, and we got to hear interpretations of it from different (parts) of the political spectrum. The simple premise behind "this land is your land this land is my land" is that that we will read the executive summary aloud, in its entirety, in a central and public place on the campus of Ramapo College. To read it aloud, unfortunately perhaps in the contemporary world of short attention spans and mediation, is in itself a political act, one which claims that we will not in this case let others decide for us what we read or perceive but at least in this instance we try to read and understand it for ourselves.
Because this is an important document in the life and legacy of our nation. It details what the Central Intelligence Agency and the Executive Administration of our nation continues to call "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques," many of which, such as waterboarding, anal feeding, and sexual humiliation and intimidation, are recognized by many of us, and by the rest of the world, as torture. These things were done secretly and without the consent of the nation, even as they were done with our silent approval as a part of the "War on Terror." The title of this piece "this land is ---- land this --- is my land," refers to the complicity that we all have as members of a nation whose representatives have used these "techniques" and continue to argue for their efficacy in keeping our nation safe despite abundant and compelling contrary evidence. Those making the argument that torture woks have been very successful, as a good section of our nation believes the intuitively attractive idea that violence leads to truth.
We believe it is important to read and hear about the events and actions described in this document. We believe that we are ultimately responsible for the actions committed in our name. We believe that we need to stand up and rake responsibility for them.
You may hear a few minutes of the reading today. You may come back later and hear more. You may decide to read the entire Executive Summary, which is available in several places, including:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/12/politics/torture-report/
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-document.html?_r=0
The Arch
Ramapo College of New Jersey
When the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's Executive Summary of the Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program was released in December 2014, the assumption from most media venues was that nobody would read it. So they summarized it for us in various ways, and we got to hear interpretations of it from different (parts) of the political spectrum. The simple premise behind "this land is your land this land is my land" is that that we will read the executive summary aloud, in its entirety, in a central and public place on the campus of Ramapo College. To read it aloud, unfortunately perhaps in the contemporary world of short attention spans and mediation, is in itself a political act, one which claims that we will not in this case let others decide for us what we read or perceive but at least in this instance we try to read and understand it for ourselves.
Because this is an important document in the life and legacy of our nation. It details what the Central Intelligence Agency and the Executive Administration of our nation continues to call "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques," many of which, such as waterboarding, anal feeding, and sexual humiliation and intimidation, are recognized by many of us, and by the rest of the world, as torture. These things were done secretly and without the consent of the nation, even as they were done with our silent approval as a part of the "War on Terror." The title of this piece "this land is ---- land this --- is my land," refers to the complicity that we all have as members of a nation whose representatives have used these "techniques" and continue to argue for their efficacy in keeping our nation safe despite abundant and compelling contrary evidence. Those making the argument that torture woks have been very successful, as a good section of our nation believes the intuitively attractive idea that violence leads to truth.
We believe it is important to read and hear about the events and actions described in this document. We believe that we are ultimately responsible for the actions committed in our name. We believe that we need to stand up and rake responsibility for them.
You may hear a few minutes of the reading today. You may come back later and hear more. You may decide to read the entire Executive Summary, which is available in several places, including:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/12/politics/torture-report/
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-document.html?_r=0