Comments on: Ensuring Lawful Interrogations

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:50:23 +0000

So I expanded upon what is talked about here, namely on section 4(a) about the CIA closing secret prisons.

http://politicalcartel.org/2010/02/15/obama-repeals-bush-torture-and-detention-doctrine/

By: annien

annien — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:23:16 +0000

I say why don’t you go join your friends?

By: annien

annien — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:14:38 +0000

It is people like you Doug and your way of thinking that will take us to the bottom. I didn’t need anyone to tell me to hate them. I saw what evil was when those planes went into the buildings in NY. One of my sons best friends father just went to work one day and never came home. You and your kind just don’t get and until you or your loved ones are at their mercy you never will.

Everything we have we owe to our troops who put their lives on the line for us and commit selfless acts of bravery everyday. On behalf of my family thank you just doesn’t encompass what I feel in my heart for each and everyone of you. God Bless

By: CJ

CJ — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:11:29 +0000

Whoa, Doug! Heaven forbid we don’t use “intimidation with dogs” (when were they ever used to actually inflict pain again?) or “sleep depravation”! Such torture!! What level could we possibly stoop to? Next thing you know, we’ll be tickling!! And I can GUARANTEE you that these tactics were used under Clinton. President Bush never sanctioned or ordered torture either and I’ve given the proof of that.

And whether you agree to it or not, I personally have no problems with the use of “waterboarding”. I’d never use it and never allow my troops to use it, but I have no problem with it.

Does this mean you’ll stop coming by here now? Have I disappointed you enough yet?

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:12:34 +0000

I think in every generation there’s some people who feel more important if they’re living in world-historical times, and inflate the threat of their day accordingly. They’re attracted to threats that are more tangible, unusual and exciting (terrorism, pirates) than those that, while more serious and fatal to large numbers of people, are slow-moving and not prone to action movie solutions (water-borne disease, plummeting economy, global warming, marine die-offs, etc.)

By: Critical Facts

Critical Facts — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:54:02 +0000

sue:

Let’s assume that all of a sudden, we “pitifully ignorant” saw the “gravity of the situation” as you refer. What would you have us do differently than we are doing today?

By: sue05

sue05 — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:08:17 +0000

What is “pitiful” are the ignorant who refuse to see or understand the enemy we are now engaged in fighting. Those who refuse to understand the gravity of the situation and ignore what is plain to others. People are trying to kill us. They dont care who of “us” it is as long as they take enormous numbers with them. I can only hope that this new administration now sees the gravity of the situation he obviously didn’t as a candidate.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:53:23 +0000

I’m not aware of Clinton ordering waterboarding, intimidation with dogs, sleep deprivation, etc. We’ve gone 225 years through invasions, rebellion, and world wars without sanctioning torture, suddenly we have to abandon our humanity in a face of a virtually powerless gang?

And yes, we did use to prosecute people for this:

From Wiki:
Spanish-American war: Major Edwin Glenn of the United States was suspended from command for one month and fined $50 for using the water cure. The Army judge advocate said the charges constituted “resort to torture with a view to extort a confession” and recommended disapproval because “the United States cannot afford to sanction the addition of torture.”

WW2:
Several Japanese guards convicted of water torture:
At the trial of his captors, then-Lt. Chase J. Nielsen, one of the 1942 Army Air Forces officers who flew in the Doolittle Raid and was captured by the Japanese, testified: “I was given several types of torture. . . . I was given what they call the water cure.” He was asked what he felt when the Japanese soldiers poured the water. “Well, I felt more or less like I was drowning,” he replied, “just gasping between life and death.”

Present:
In 1983, federal prosecutors charged a Texas sheriff and three of his deputies with violating prisoners’ civil rights by forcing confessions. The complaint alleged that the officers conspired to “subject prisoners to a suffocating water torture ordeal in order to coerce confessions. This generally included the placement of a towel over the nose and mouth of the prisoner and the pouring of water in the towel until the prisoner began to move, jerk, or otherwise indicate that he was suffocating and/or drowning.”

The four defendants were convicted, and the sheriff was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201170.html

By: NY-David

NY-David — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:42:08 +0000

I don’t look to Bush or Clinton to define my values and morals. They have their weaknesses, as we all do. I expect them to govern and make/enforce public policy. That said, I’d like to see two things answered:
1. If we send troops out and they get captured by the other side, how can we expect them not to be severely tortured if we permit the same. I say “severe” as opposed to “milder” such as sleep deprevation, discomfort, etc.
2. If some sixty-odd former detainees found their way onto the battlefield after being released, then I agree with Obama in that the process needs review. This is not to say that Gitmo should be closed. It should be closed when it no longer serves a purpose and not the other way around.
NY-David

By: CJ

CJ — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:01:28 +0000

Or you’re just really ignorant about how war works. “Bush/Cheney” did not turn away from values and morals – expect the ones espoused by Clinton.