Comments on: There Never Were Any ’180 Waterboardings’

By: Lammo

Lammo — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:46:23 +0000

and the “90% of guns seized from Mexican drug lords come from the US” claim, it seems that any statistic from this administration needs to come with an asterisk.

By: hampa

hampa — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:34:23 +0000

I have read in the news that torture is an act that ‘shocks the conscience”.
I would call the untimely but sudden death of Daniel Pearl or the treatment of Senator McCain and other POWs where their arms were strapped behind their backs until the elbows touched and then they were hoisted off the floor by the elbows Those acts shock my conscience especially when they had no useful information to impart.
Waterboarding may be terrifying but it is not painful The terrorists who received that treatment are still alive and can raise their arms above their shoulders. They probably have nightmares about it and be extremely reluctant to have it done again but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Right?
The people who did the interrogations are not sadists who caused pain and suffering for the joy of it, indeed they are professionals and patriots who have spent their lives standing between us and the “barbarians and the gates”.

By: rbdwiggins

rbdwiggins — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:34:27 +0000

The OLC Memos are a distraction. The same can be said for the DHS Report.

The economy continued to decline throughout President Obama’s World Apology Tour, and the administration’s only response has been to accumulate more debt and threaten to regulate CO₂. Chrysler will likely enter Chapter 11 next week, GM is closing plants for the summer, and the commercial real estate market is hanging-on, but is on the verge of collapse.

The perfect storm is building, just over the horizon, and Obama hopes no one is paying attention. Unfortunately for him, the Tea Parties are only the beginning.

By: LibRick

LibRick — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:25:10 +0000

To go down the road of the current regime changing the rules and rounding up the old regime for prosecution smacks of a banana republic style of governance. America must be better than that.

By: Joe_Cor

Joe_Cor — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:08:57 +0000

There hasn’t been a fight we couldn’t have won for the past 8 years if we had just fought to win.

By: LibRick

LibRick — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:08:50 +0000

As I stated, I personally believe that waterboarding is “a form of” torture and I concede that my statement is extremely loose. What defines torture, on an individual level, is subjective. Much of the current debate is focusing on this aspect and there may be well be 300 million different views on it.

The focus and debate should be about the legal opinions rendered at the time as they relate to actions taken and I don’t see any wrongdoing on this front.

By: itdiehard

itdiehard — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:00:50 +0000

John McCain? The any other RINO? Problem I see is republicans have to many agreeing with democrats position and the many one is supposedly the leader of our party. We can’t even call a socialist a socialist without being accused of being races redneck B** by the media.

By: Warner Todd Huston

Warner Todd Huston — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:43:16 +0000

But by you extremely loose criteria of “a form of” just about anything can be deemed torture. I think listening to Nancy Pelosi is “a form of” torture at that rate.

By: pilgrim

pilgrim — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:29:57 +0000

I don’t think there will ever be agreement between folks on what defines an enhanced interrogation technique, and I really don’t care to force such an agreement. There have been disagreements between the actions of a previous administration and current administration in this nation since the days of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The difference today, which I agree with you about, is the idea that policy makers of the previous administration should be put into jail. This is the kind of actions one sees in banana republics, and we should not go down this road in our country.

By: rbdwiggins

rbdwiggins — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:19:38 +0000

regarding every aspect of our national security, we can turn our attention to destroying the left’s credibility concerning the economy, energy and the environment.

The left opened this door. It’s time we slam this door in their collective faces and bloody their elitist noses.

To borrow a quote: “Faster, please.”

By: LibRick

LibRick — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:14:57 +0000

I’ll probably get flak for this, but please hear me out.. I personally believe waterboarding is a form of torture. Whether it was 30 sessions or 300 does not change my view on this but the details you presented do call into question the credibility those that have their pitchforks out.

I completely agree with the Cliff May quote “Nor do I see how …. lawyers from the current administration can prosecute lawyers from the previous administration because they disagree with their legal opinions.”

I just don’t see how there can or should be prosecution based a disagreement with lawful legal opinions. The Bush OLC provided guidance based on their review of relevant law and concluded that waterboarding was not an act of torture. The Bush administration and those involved with implementing the program, therefore, acted within lawful guidelines. The fact that these legal opinions were solicited indicate that all involved were intent on following the law even under the stress of the immediate aftermath of 911.

One should be able to disagree with the law, work to effect change, and implement that change but cannot retroactively prosecute. Have we given up on ex post facto law? I hope not or most of America would be in jail.

By: randy streu

randy streu — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:53:14 +0000

And profitable. Let’s not forget that.

By: smagar

smagar — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:50:16 +0000

The last administration, on so many issue, simply sat there and let themselves be whipped like dogs. And, our spirits sank as we watched our elected leaders meekly accept beating after beating…

On the issue of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, I think the facts are on our side.

This time, I hope we play to win.

By: bk

bk — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:33:04 +0000