That’s a standard saying among animal trainers and management consultants, frequently used to point out that every instance of ‘rewarding’ bad behavior (by inattention or favoritism or an unwillingness to admit imperfection) negates hours of half-hearted positive reinforcement and/or lip service about mandating quality at every level. It was my first affirmative thought in response Jameel Jaffers’s and Larry Siem’s NYTimes op-ed on “Honoring Those Who Said No“:
… Throughout the military, and throughout the government, brave men and women reported abuse, challenged interrogation directives that permitted abuse, and refused to participate in an interrogation and detention program that they believed to be unwise, unlawful and immoral. The Bush administration’s most senior officials expressly approved the torture of prisoners, but there was dissent in every agency, and at every level.
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There are many things the Obama administration could do to repair some of the damage done by the last administration, but among the simplest and most urgent is this: It could recognize and honor the public servants who rejected torture…
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Thus far, though, our official history has honored only those who approved torture, not those who rejected it. In December 2004, as the leadership of the C.I.A. was debating whether to destroy videotapes of prisoners being waterboarded in the agency’s secret prisons, President Bush bestowed the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on George J. Tenet, the former C.I.A. director who had signed off on the torture sessions. In 2006, the Army major general who oversaw the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo was given the Distinguished Service Medal. One of the lawyers responsible for the Bush administration’s “torture memos” received awards from the Justice Department, the Defense Department and the National Security Agency.
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President Obama has disavowed torture, but he has been unenthusiastic about examining the last administration’s interrogation policies. He has said the country should look to the future rather than the past. But averting our eyes from recent history means not only that we fail in our legal and moral duty to provide redress to victims of torture, but also that we betray the public servants who risked so much to reverse what they knew was a disastrous and shameful course.
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Those who stayed true to our values and stood up against cruelty are worthy of a wide range of civilian and military commendations, up to and including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Honoring them is a way of encouraging the best in our public servants, now and in the future. It is also a way of honoring the best in ourselves.
Egypt Steve
When pigs fly.
soonergrunt
Nothing really to add, except to say that this would seem blindingly obvious.
gypsy howell
Bush “disavowed” torture too, as I recall, as did all those war criminals he rewarded. They just called it something different. So Obama “disavowing” torture doesn’t mean we’ve changed anything about the policies, including how we treat the people who stood up to it.
Someday, this country is going to look back on this period we’re in and be deeply, deeply ashamed. I hope.
someguy
The NYT can go fuck themselves. They were war cheerleaders, and they still are. They ain’t sayin shit about Libya, they’re cheering on our debacle in Af/Pak, not saying shit about how we got our asses kicked after lying our way into Iraq, and they’re only saying this now to keep the cult of leakers alive, and maybe to get in one last shot (this week) at the Bush administration. While I appreciate that, it’s worth remembering that these are the assholes who brought you the three wars we’re currently in, and will probably agitate for opening another war shop in Syria sooner or later.
Gina
Anne, your headline should be the one the NYT uses for the editorial. Spot on.
alwhite
I’m confused. Why Would Obama want to do this? He is on board with torture. He seems to approve of it for Manning as well as for whomever the military/intelligence picks up for whatever demented reason and accuse of being a terrorist.
Why on earth would he praise the people who won’t cooperate with that? It would almost be as if he admitted what he is doing is wrong.
alwhite
@gypsy howell:
Comrade Scrutinizer
@alwhite: Two words for you, Pinko:
Manifest Fuckin’ Destiny!
Pococurante
If only Eric Holder was more like Alberto Gonzalez… /snark
russell
Egypt Steve had it @ 1.
This won’t happen because “saying no” is not the behavior that is desired.
“You get the behavior you reward” *is* the operative principle.
WereBear
Rewarding people for saying “No” to torture would be to admit such was done; and no one is going there.
But yeah; too little too late, NYT.
Joe Beese
Stanley McChrystal’s Torture History in Iraq and Afghanistan
Obama is OK with torture.
Maybe he’s not happy with it. But he can accept it.
As a centrist compromise, if you like.
OFA is now accepting contributions for his re-election. How much can they put you down for?
TheYankeeApologist
@Joe Beese:
I’ll be contributing, and volunteering for the Democrats here in NY as well. Jesus on a hobby horse – the guy isn’t perfect, but what’s the alternative? Trump? Bachmann? Can you imagine what President Gingrich’s stance on warmongering and torture would be?
Joe Beese
“How does it become a man to behave toward this American government to-day? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.”
HyperIon
I read this today in the NYT. I am commenting only to say thank you for not posting about birthers.
I refuse to read anymore posts on that topic so my activity here at Balloon-Juice will be curtailed severely.
TheYankeeApologist
@Joe Beese:
Sound and fury, signifying nothing. We’re all associated with what America is – the good and the bad. I would put a lot more stock in your anti-Obama ragefest if it wasn’t abundantly clear that it all stems from you not getting your way on DOMA and DADT right when you wanted it, right then, and a pony also too.
Josh
OMG, anybody who criticizes Obama from the left is a homo? I gotta break it to my wife. And my Mom.