Two prominent Asian Pacific American players in post-9/11 policy and military strategy made encore appearances over the past two weeks — one in the spotlight and one in the background.
Former Justice Department attorney John Yoo, who wrote the 2002 and 2003 memos providing a legal basis for aggressive interrogation techniques of terror suspects, appeared on June 26 before a House Judiciary subcommittee investigating the role of Bush administration lawyers in approving interrogation procedures that were far harsher than those traditionally used by the U.S. military.
At the time, Yoo, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley, was regarded as a behind-the-scenes mastermind of Bush administration policy. But now, testifying before Congress and the cameras, he downplayed his role, denying involvement in interrogation-related policy decisions at the Justice Department and insisting that “my memo does not authorize anyone to torture anyone.”
Meanwhile, the Army released a report last weekend that seems to offer complete vindication for former Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki. In 2003, Shinseki — the highest-ranking APA in U.S. military history — was in the limelight and under heavy criticism himself when he testified before Congress that several hundred thousand more soldiers than planned by the Bush administration would be needed to win a war in Iraq. Soon after his testimony, he was forced into retirement.
Now the new Army report only references Shinseki’s position in the background, but rings a piercing I-told-you-so bell as the findings conclude that there was a massive underestimation of troops needed to stabilize a post-war Iraq.
Seven years after 9/11, we are still pointing fingers about who was right and who was wrong in the war on Iraq and the war on terrorism. As these two recent events illustrate, Asian Pacific Americans were both right and wrong. Moreover, as we are finding our places both behind-the-scenes and in the spotlight for determining policy and making history, we are also finding that it is not an easy or comfortable role.
On this Fourth of July, as we think back to America’s forefathers and how they constructed the foundations of our society, let us also think ahead to how we Asian Pacific Americans are shaping the future of this country — for better and for worse.