Comments on: CIA: Here We Go Again

By: dirtbogger

dirtbogger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:27:46 +0000

Hell yeah Sarma, at least someone gets it!

By: Sarma

Sarma — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:14:40 +0000

The facts are: There is no police investigation into 9-11. The commission was instituted an year after the incident. The evidence was shipped away to China and India. These three facts coupled to the 100s of other mysteries indicate complicity of the Bush administration. 9-11 was a joint CIA Mossad operation.

By: ron

ron — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:20:08 +0000

I’m no historian but I recall reading in a military history of WWII that a large number of German subversives captured in North Carolina were immediately tried and hanged within days after a military tribunal. They were violating the Geneva Convention by dressing as civilians.

Speaking of Anglo morality of WWII, it’s no secret that Britain bombed vast swaths of civilian population centers as did the US, killing tens of thousands of civilians.

War is hell. So said Sherman as he specifically targeted civilian population centers for destruction in the South. Columbia is still an armpit, and has never recovered.

The North won, however.

I agree with Bill though I disagree with your spelling of literally and your use of the word “singular.”

By: DJ

DJ — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:13:04 +0000

Leon Panetta has a big mouth. He would not last that long in fight club. Waterboarding, the physical act, is not what makes it torture. It is the psychological aspect of not knowing when it will stop or how long it will go on for, that cracks people. its mental as most interrogation techniques are. I mean, I get drunk and waterboard all the time. It’s the new beer bong. It’s the new S&M in porn. Everyone is doing it! JK.

With respect to Pat who comments all the time here with some good arguments, what exactly is our principles? I mean we have plenty of examples in our history where we can question that. And we did sanction torture in a lot of those wars. The CIA KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation, July 1963 is an example. When I was in Iraq we had a prison yard and some of the things done by the intel guys and the way we treated prisoners could be considered torture depending on who you talked to. I mean the definition isn’t really defined is it? Everyone, every agency, every country, media, and the various groups around the world all have different definitions of what torture is.

I love this country, I fought for it, would continue to fight for it if its needed again. But I also understand that we dont have the cleanest history, that we sometimes did ugly things and made ugly decisions (Hiroshima?) in order to survive. We have compromised our principles and integrity more than once in our history but we survived. We do what we have to. Thats reality. To say that torture doesnt belong in American policy because it goes against our principles is disingenuous and not based in any reality.I prefer to call it interrogation techniques.

By: vinnie

vinnie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:11:42 +0000

Interesting discussion. Sure, torture in some form, be it psychological or physiological, has been utilized in all wars. All intelligence agencies have trained “interrogation experts.” We had “interrogation experts” in all the wars of the 20th century. Israel’s Mossad is particularly distinguished at their intelligence extraction capabilities–and for obvious reasons.

To state or imply that the US has never employed enhanced interrogation techniques prior to the Bush Administration is to reveal either ignorance of history or self-delusion.

By: Pat Hendrix

Pat Hendrix — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:39:17 +0000

Ugh, no it does not, it reveals what logical gymnastics you will go to justify the use of torture. Aside from the gross violation of our own principals this represents – sorry, I still consider the United States the “Best hope for mandkind” – the intelligence rendered from torture is garbage. The Japanese that tortured civilians discovered through waterboarding that Americans and British civilians had sabotaged their airfield. Except they didn’t. It was British Special Ops. Same with Abu Zubaida who revealed a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. Except he made it up to stop the waterboarding. Is that the type of intelligence you were hoping for?

We managed to win WWI, WWII, the Korean War and the Cold War without torture – was there less at stake? Even Churchill did not use torture against German spies caught in England. This while the Luftwaffe was turning London to ash. And yet, we won.

This is not 24. This not a Jerry Bruckheimer film. Torture has no place in American policy.

By: dirtbogger

dirtbogger — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:04:29 +0000

Bill if we wernt metteling in every other countries buisness around the world why would they atack us. you sound like a scared little sissy hanging on every fear mongering word that Shawn Hannity utters you know we better get them before they get us crap. Just turn off the TV its 90% Bull s___ anyway. And to all of you so called Christian pro life / Pro War wack jobs, who would Jesus Bomb?

By: bill

bill — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:45:00 +0000

“Truth” and Hendrix,
I don’t deny that waterboarding “fits” some definitions of torture. I don’t really care. When someone has the ability to kill litterally millions of humans with a singular nuclear weapon, I don’t have a problem if waterboarding is used (on well-known terrorists) to extract potential life-saving information. Waterboarding is not pretty, for sure, but neither is a mushroom cloud over Manhattan.

Incidentally, has anyone ever died from waterboarding? Has anyone ever not died from be-heading? To suggest that beheading and starvation, two frequent torture techniques employed by the Japaense, are remotely morally equivalent to waterboarding reveals a distorted perspective.

By: rob

rob — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:15:34 +0000

Dr. Truther,
Is abortion torture? Does your government sanction it?

By: rob

rob — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:09:27 +0000

Mr. Hendrix,
Your non-answer is very revealing.