Posted on 09/29/2006 2:32:28 AM PDT by FairOpinion
Discussing his recent compromise with the White House on detention and interrogation of captured terrorists, John McCain said on the Today show that there will be no such thing as waterboarding You will never see that again. We stood up and said that cannot be done.
It is not easy to grasp the thinking of senator McCain and others who seek to ban this practice in the light of its immense value in our fight against terror. Take, for instance, the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed captured in Pakistan in March of 2003. One of the masterminds of 9/11 and al-Qaedas operational leader at the time, he possessed a wide-ranging knowledge of the networks plans, logistics and personnel. Unwilling to share it voluntarily, he was subjected to forced interrogation. As resilient as he was and defiant, he held out until the interrogators decided to proceed with waterboarding. Two and a half minutes into the procedure, a broken Mohammed begged for relief. Stunned and shaken, his extensive confession amounted to nothing less than a treasure trove of priceless intelligence.
Although waterboarding is normally employed as the last resort and the frequency of its use kept secret, it has been made known that so far it has worked every time it has been tried. Thanks to its extraordinary efficacy, we have been able to obtain a great amount of critical intelligence that would have otherwise remained inaccessible. With the help of this information we have captured al-Qaeda operatives, stopped deadly plots, and saved many innocent lives. One of the fruits of Mohammeds confession, to give one example, was the thwarting of a conspiracy to fly an airliner into the Library Tower, the tallest building in Los Angeles.
(Excerpt) Read more at frontpagemag.com ...
The excellent closing paragraph of the article:
"And as far as opponents of waterboarding are concerned, I have these questions to ask: Are a few moments of a terrorists discomfort more important than the lives of the innocents he seeks to destroy? Are two minutes of Moussaouis anguish worth more than the three thousand lives lost on 9/11? Does his momentary pain override a lifetime of hurt of those left behind?
If you cant answer in the affirmative then hold your peace."
It's a total lie that water boarding is torture. It's so effective that real torture is unnecessary just so long as one does the water boarding with a good doctor monitoring it so the person doesn't drown.
"It's a total lie that water boarding is torture. It's so effective that real torture is unnecessary just so long as one does the water boarding with a good doctor monitoring it so the person doesn't drown."
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Yes, the article makes that very point.
"Waterboarding, on the other hand, is fleeting in duration with the actual discomfort lasting seldom more than a couple of minutes. And since a man can be safely deprived of oxygen for at least twice as long, there is almost no risk of long-term harm. The possibility of injury is further reduced by the fact that the procedure calls for no direct physical contact between the subject and his interrogators. Not even as much as pushing or chest slapping is required at any time, making waterboarding one of the safest and least confrontational among interrogation methods. Involving the lowest risk of long-term harm and the least amount of cumulative discomfort, it is also the most humane. Most importantly, it is the most effective."
What's the matter with our lawmakers that they don't even try to understand what's going on, just trying to score political points?!
I think the ultimate in non-lethal and non-painful torture would be total sensory deprivation.
Imagine if you couldn't see, hear, smell, taste or feel anything.
What people keep ignoring is that we are dealing with TERRORISTS and the informaion we gain from them is to save thousands, perhaps even millions of innocent lives.
Mortal fear of a terrorist vs. thousands of innocent lives -- I don't think there should even be a debate, the answer is so clear.
From the article: Viewed in this light, waterboarding may well be the most just form of interrogation for this kind of criminal, because it gives him a taste of his own evil. The difference is that his anguish is stopped the moment he expresses a desire for it to be so. This, tragically, is something which his victims would never be granted. That's good enough for me.
He could have confessed to a plot to contamminate all the spinach...IOW...made something up.
With Mohammed, it was different since they knew his rank in the terrorist network.
I'm so incredibly sick of McCain's BS...
Mortal fear, and pure terror is the key to unlocking people's mouths, not pain.
Do you or anyone else remember the short story or it could have been a TV show whose premise was the unlocking of a captives most dreaded fear and then presenting them with it.
Why can't McCain make this leap of logic.
Consequently, I'm not sure he was routinely tortured; On the contrary, it was to the VC's advantage to keep him in relatively good shape.
Wouldn't MCain want to create the image that he was tortured horribly but failed to give them any info?
This position allows him to build his own image. So why wouldn't he want to say WATERBOARDING doesn't work, so he could say we should not use it.
On the contrary WB does work and if it had been used on him he would have yielded. Is there any proof tht the VC used WB?
Wouldn't MCain want to create the image that he was tortured horribly but failed to give them any info?
McCain: Hmmmm, could it be NARCISSISTIC Personality Disorder?
It's all about him.
This bumper sticker is courtesy of Rushbo and his EBI.
Dear Senator Biden, Saddam was a dictator like Pol Pot was a dictator. Good thing we got rid of him.
It would seem that waterboarding would do no lasting damage.
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