Obama's Mistake: Britain Did Torture

Time.com (Swampland) ^ | 04/30/2009 | Michael Scherer

[BuckeyeTexan]

Last night, Barack Obama said he had recently read an article about Winston Churchill during the London blitz. "Churchill said, 'We don't torture,' when the entire British -- all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat," Obama said. "And then the reason was that Churchill understood, you start taking short-cuts, over time, that corrodes what's -- what's best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country."

It was, perhaps, the most powerful anecdote of the night, and an apparently powerful moral condemnation of President Bush, an admitted admirer of Churchill who kept the British leader's bust in the Oval Office. But it was not entirely true. Churchill may well have said that Britain did not torture, but British archives show clearly that captured Nazis were subjected to harsh treatment in order to extract information during World War II. This morning, Michael Tomasky points to this 2005 story in the Guardian about a secret World War II detention center called the "London Cage":

[BuckeyeTexan]

Obama's paternal grandfather was supposedly brutally tortured by the British during Kenya's struggle for independence.

Obama threw Churchill under the bus when he returned the bust to P.M. Brown. Now he pulls Churchill out from under the bus?

First time I've seen him use that particular trick.

[a fool in paradise]

If Obama’s such a Winston Churchhill fan, why he give the British back the bust of Churchhill that had been gifted to America? It wasn’t his to get rid of.

[a fool in paradise]

It’s an old trick, like when the Left says “Even Nixon...”.

[NormsRevenge]

He’s grabbed Reagan so grabbing Chruchill, no surprise.

He’s a rudderless jerk... and an opportunist, nothing more.

he deserves an asterisk in the history books.. for being such a phoney.

[a fool in paradise]

Obama’s paternal grandfather was a Catholic who converted to Islam (and changed his name to Barack Obama). Don’t know what life experience caused his shift. Don’t know what role he may have played in political upheaval.

[Salamander]

“Obama threw Churchill under the bus when he returned the bust to P.M. Brown. Now he pulls Churchill out from under the bus?”

YoYobama.

[hgro]

Only the phony press can make a phony Chicago pol into a phony president.

[pnh102]

Obama's paternal grandfather was supposedly brutally tortured by the British during Kenya's struggle for independence.

Then I support Britain. There is no question that Africa was better off under colonial rule.

[blau993]

German spies captured in England during the war were given a choice. They could become part of the "Double Cross" system and feed the Germans disinformation over wireless transmitters from their jail cells, or they could hang. Some of them did in fact hang.

But of course this all happened before King Zero was born, and since it is all about him, this is of no consequence.

[BigBobber]

Once again, the left wants to blur the distinction between uniformed soldiers fighting in war, and enemy combatants hiding among civilians.

[j-damn]

I’m confused, does incinerating an entire German city count as torture or not?

[carcraft]

Obama is an idiot trying to tarnish Bush period. Obama is now realizing how tough it is to be POTUS. He complains about two wars, a recession he is worsening etc. Bush handled a recession, two wars and 9-11, hurricane Katrina with much more grace and finesse than Obama could ever hope to manage. Obama can't even get his cabinet in place with out having tax cheats, lobbyists, liars etc. It is obvious Obama’s fact checkers are sub par!!!

[dead]

They made them run in circles carrying logs and knocked on their door every 15 minutes.

Every inconvenience is torture. Every unfortunate situation is a crisis.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Who wrote the book 0bama read? Ayers?

And what books other than his own does 0bama actually read?

He hasn’t read The Constitution yet and it’s just 4 pages.

[Bushbacker1]

Obama is an idiot trying to tarnish Bush period.

Not that I agreed with Bush all the time, ie amnesty, bail out, but Obama couldn't make a pimple on W's arse!

[verga]

Obama supports abortion and infanticide.
Sleep deprivation, and stress are a whole lot kinder, and oh yeah the babies are innocent, not so much the enemy combatants.

[Landru]

The zerO neglected another historical factoid.
Like from what nation did the slave traders originally hail?

Every American arriving post Civil War has had to pay time and again for the sin of slavery, still are.
While the offending country not only skated away scott-free, but some insist are largely responsible for much of the trouble America's having to deal with today.

The irony of ignorance, I guess.

[what's up]

Obama's paternal grandfather was supposedly brutally tortured by the British during Kenya's struggle for independence

True...and one reason Oshama despises Churchill.

For him to use Churchill as an example shows tremendous duplicity...it's like he's laughing down his nose at the entire population.

[Moltke]

No, no, no - the teleprompter got it wrong again. Obama didn't mean to cite Winston Churchill but rather his hero Ward Churchill.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Exactly! :)

[astounded]

...”He’s a rudderless jerk... and an opportunist, nothing more.”...

Barack Obama is, in a nutshell, a product of Affirmative Action preferences who was “educated” in leftist Ivy League institutions that are bastions of groupthink. He seems to have a minimal grasp on history and how it relates to America and vice versa, which is all too typical of his ilk, many of whom have not put in an honest days work and are not in touch with the realities of daily life in America.

[Marysecretary]

Yeah, just like he laughed at tea-party attending Americans.

[CitizenM]

Obama doesn't care if he speaks incorrectly about history or former leaders. He knows that the majority of his supporters have no idea what is true, and what is not - and more don't really care. He will use any lie he wants to; and these people will rally around him regardless of any proof given to them later.

The Obamamaniacs are so brainwashed and lack the education (because of our socialist schools and colleges) that they are arrogant when told that Obama said something wrong. It is really sad for our country that so many are stupidly following this man like a bunch of lemmings marching off of a cliff into the sea.

[sheik yerbouty]

Maybe the Bama Lama Ding Dong was thinking of Ward Churchill..

[SirFishalot]

Click Here For The Fact That Bama Missed

[StAnDeliver]

"Only the phony press can make a phony Chicago pol into a phony president."

What more ever need be said?

[dfwgator]

I’m confused, does incinerating an entire German city count as torture or not?

No, I consider it just desserts.

[TXnMA]

"It was, perhaps, the most powerful anecdote biggest B.S. line of the night,"

[Signolife]

I read an excellent analysis posted on Pat Dollard’s site today, regarding the real issue surrounding Obama’s release of torture memos, his possible motives for allowing prosecutions of former Bush administration personnel, and the ripple effects of doing so. A must read! (This is the first time I’ve tried posting a link. Hope it works, if not, perhaps another freeper with the know-how can post it?) Warning: the comments posted by some of the readers on that site contain foul language. The article is fine, but if offended by foul language, I’d suggest not reading them.

http://patdollard.com/2009/04/obama-torture-memos-and-the-real-issue-no-one-is-talking-about/

[subterfuge]

bRack needs a “Clarification Czar.”

[AuntB]

Reference Bump!

[Beckwith]

Obama’s paternal grandfather was a Catholic who converted to Islam (and changed his name to Barack Obama).

Do you have a source/link for that statement?

[peace with honor]

why would the truth every matter to odumbo

[SunkenCiv]

Churchill, terrorism, and water-boarding
In The Agora
Posted on 04/29/2009 5:24:51 PM PDT by mnehring
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2240870/posts

[j-damn]

You think Obama would have the stones to incinerate anything besides a Marlboro or some freebase?

[a fool in paradise]

If you can trust Newsweak...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/143763

Obama: Christian, Not Muslim
By Richard Wolffe | NEWSWEEK
July 7-14, 2008 issue

“Barack Obama has never been Muslim and never practiced Islam.” (note their first sentence is an outright lie, he practiced Islam when he attended Koranic studies class, something he wrote about in his own book)

“But rumors about his religion intended to frighten some voters persist, and they mostly return to one point of fact: his name. “Barack” is the candidate’s Kenyan father’s name; Obama’s middle name, “Hussein,” is his grandfather’s name. Hussein embraced Islam—after first converting to Christianity under the name “Johnson.” According to Obama’s memoir, Hussein valued discipline and strength and found Christian forgiveness to be sentimental. Obama has described his father as atheist or agnostic...”

You can search for other references.

[Beckwith]

Thanks. I knew he was a Christian and I new his name was Johnson at one time. I've had that on my website for over two years.

I was inquiring about the "Catholic" reference.

Barack Obama's grandfather was Hussein Onyango Obama. He was born about 1895 and died in 1979. He worked for the British colonial government and was a prominent and wealthy farmer.

Grandfather lived for a time in Zanzibar, where he converted from Christianity to Islam. He was one of the first Muslim converts in his village.

"For a brief time, he converted, and even changed his name to Johnson. But he could not understand such ideas as mercy towards your enemies, or that this man Jesus could wash away a man's sins."

Obama's Family