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Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown: Use enhanced interrogation in attempted terrorism case
Boston Herald ^ | January 4, 2010 | Associated Press

Posted on 01/04/2010 3:52:11 PM PST by Dayvester

Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown says a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a U.S. airliner should be treated as an enemy combatant, transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and interrogated by any legal means...

(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: interrogation; scottbrown
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To: Dayvester
Top Election Year Issue, Bar None, 2010. A REAL WINNER FOR REPUBLICANS IN RACE AFTER RACE.

Even over and above "the Economy, Stupid", or "the Jobs, Stupid", once if and when "The Big One" hits by the terrorists on domestic US soil under Obama's watch in Election Year.

This guy is positioning very wisely. Not to mention, it is the right thing to assert, too.

We need to know specifically of Umar's handlers, his money route, his colleagues, and which other agents are out there and what and when they are going make a move.

21 posted on 01/04/2010 4:28:30 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo (2010 Is Here. The Year We Kick the Stuffing Out of Obama (Politically) Thru TOTAL Senate/House ROUT!)
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To: jessduntno

Just say No to Martha!


22 posted on 01/04/2010 4:28:30 PM PST by Boardwalk
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To: SeattleBruce

principal = principle


23 posted on 01/04/2010 4:28:45 PM PST by SeattleBruce (God, Family, Church, Country - Keep on Tea Partiers - party like it's 1773 & pray 2 Chronicles 7:14!)
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To: chuck_the_tv_out

“RINOs virtually ARE democrats.”

There ain’t no virtually about it.


24 posted on 01/04/2010 4:34:41 PM PST by dljordan (Psalm 109:8 "Let his days be few; and let another take his office. ")
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To: jessduntno
“Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown: Use enhanced interrogation in attempted terrorism case”

It wasn't attempted terrorism. It was terrorism. The attack wasn't successful, thank G-d. Send the enemy combatant to Gitmo and hook electrodes to whatever parts he hasn't burned off.

25 posted on 01/04/2010 4:36:25 PM PST by glock rocks (Wait, what?)
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To: Raycpa
I’d rather have a RINO from MA, than a liberal democrat. But I know I’m in the minority here on FR. Democrats are in favor over RINO’s here.

You are not in the minority - it just seems that way sometimes the way these web forums play out

26 posted on 01/04/2010 4:40:07 PM PST by plain talk
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To: AmericanInTokyo

The Ft. Hood terrorist attack sure got buried in the MSM. Oh no, he was just a confused anti-war crusader, suffering from pre-deployment traumatic stress syndrome. The POS could have gone awol to Canada, but no...

Another terrorist attack on a U.S. military installation. Hell, was any air time spent on Ft. Dix or the recruiting station killing?

WTH?

Will it take losing a school or a city before the total failure of this administration to keep Americans safe becomes apparent? Even then, the perp will have an attorney appointed if he cannot afford one... shades of Clinton trying to handle terrorism in court with the first WTC bombing... and we all know where that went.

UnFReekin believable.


27 posted on 01/04/2010 4:44:21 PM PST by glock rocks (Wait, what?)
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To: jessduntno

I’ll send the below Op-ed to the Herald, but not much chance of it being published. Hopefully at least one person will be made uncomfortable.

Coercion and Stress Needed to Save Lives

Scott Brown speaks against the popular voices that label as torture legitimate steps a civilized society would take to protect itself from catastrophe. Those popular arguments cloud public awareness of past and continuing threats to our security — threats without precedent in our nation’s history. Instead the country chooses to even begin criminalizing the acts of people who risked their own lives to counter enemies committed to butchery. Thereby career paths open for politically sensitive bureaucrats in Defense, Homeland Security, and State Departments who obfuscate perpetual failures by reinterpretation of events.

This current denunciation of supposed torture and torturers proceeds from believing that political capital and moral authority can be harvested at a safe distance by berating people who put themselves in harm’s way on our behalf. To regard such actions as criminal requires asymmetrical morality, undefiled by any perception of danger to ourselves or others. Placating those who covet such a luxurious, dilemma-free type of morality forces us to ignore military and intelligence professionals who face shrewd, ruthless enemies in a conflict fraught with frightening uncertainties.

Terrorists never display the civility required by the Geneva Conventions for prisoners of war. Terrorists are not insurgents or freedom fighters, and when they are captured, they certainly are not prisoners of war. These killers are not members of an organized resistance movement carrying arms openly, and they have no distinctive identifier. The Geneva Conventions describe terrorists as beyond the pale, because of their focus on slaughtering civilians.

The framers of the Geneva Conventions were parents and grandparents of the Greatest Generation, and held powerful positions throughout the darkest times of our world. Their words synthesize brutal, durable morality, properly understood, from actions within the ultimate bloody deluges of the 20th century. The people writing the conventions intended to isolate terrorist forces, provide them minimal protections, and allow their destruction with any overwhelming furies needed to crush their abominations.

Terrorists remain unresponsive to direct questioning and psychological gambits. Effective interrogation necessitates also applying all stress and coercion techniques — the same techniques our military encounters in survival schools. Effective interrogation requires combining these techniques within a continually confused and uncertain environment.

If the only information obtained is a confession or an assumed desired answer, then incorrect questions have been asked. Intelligence acquired by these means remains as unreliable as that obtained from satellite surveillance or double agents. Independent verification still leaves intelligence officers lingering in a purgatory of distorted certitude with critical hazards only conquered through resolute leadership.

The supposed unique unreliability for information obtained from torture, however defined, is dispelled in contradicting Barack Obama’s statement Churchill abhorred, and did not condone torture. Churchill historian Richard M. Langworth says, “The word ‘torture’ appears 156 times in my digital transcript of Churchill’s 15 million published words (books, articles, speeches, papers) and 35 million words about him—but not once in the subject context (Obama’s speech)”. Other creditable WW II historians mention German spies caught by Great Britain were often allowed to choose between hanging and serving as double agents. Many chose to cooperate, and sixteen were still hanged after secret trials. The technique was effective for the D-Day deception, but would not coercion promising death be considered torture?

Rep. Peter DeFazio (Oregon) quoted to me 20 former Army interrogators saying that abuse and torture of prisoners and detainees should be avoided at all costs. I find that assertion disturbing, because on Sept. 11, 2001, we were prepared to shoot down any civilian airliner that did not land immediately, regardless of its crew’s assertions.

For DeFazio and similar popular advocates, U.S. victory must be defined wholly within a tranquil, self-created moral high ground, affirming an illusory national greatness. Islamic jihadists define victory as U.S. submission through elaborate and extensive slaughters. Jihadists win by their definition — but according to the increasingly popular assertions of those who redefine and then condemn torture under any circumstances, we also win by our definition while perishing by thousands.

There’s an incredible moral disconnect here: We were prepared to kill our own citizens on 9/11, but we’re forbidden to subject terrorists to severe discomfort that might prevent extravagant murder and destruction. At what point in the application of chemical, biological and atomic weapons to our society must we protect the American people “at all costs”? At what point would we consider beginning a legitimate conversation about what might constitute torture? When does one consider extreme measures are warranted by the circumstances? Scott Brown’s statement raises these legitimate questions.


28 posted on 01/04/2010 4:46:21 PM PST by Retain Mike
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To: glock rocks

...providing aid and comfort to the enemy...


29 posted on 01/04/2010 5:04:36 PM PST by maxsand
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To: Britt0n

RINO or not, he is against the current Obamacare monstrosity in the Senate and vows to vote against it if elected.

Personally I don’t think he is a RINO, and he is definitely better than his Democrat opponent. She has come out FOR the Healthcare bill, and appears to be in lock-step with the Obummer administration. She is a Ted Kennedy political clone and Brown is not!


30 posted on 01/04/2010 5:09:26 PM PST by coldoc
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To: maxsand
...providing aid and comfort to the enemy...

I'm not sure I understand your post.

31 posted on 01/04/2010 5:14:03 PM PST by glock rocks (Wait, what?)
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To: coldoc

I will vote for him because he will hold up Obama care. Nothing else he does would matter fore during the remainder of his term.


32 posted on 01/04/2010 7:06:31 PM PST by Vermont Lt (I have lived here all my life, and now is the first time I am ashamed of my country)
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To: Britt0n

Here are Brown’s positions on issues. Considering this is Massachusetts he looks like a good candidate. http://bit.ly/8jLJ9x


33 posted on 01/04/2010 9:15:05 PM PST by 506Lake (Complacency is no longer an option, folks.)
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To: 506Lake

Thanks for that link to Brown’s ideology. He’s a pure Rino and he would do better as a “blue dog” Democrat than as a Republican. We don’t support “health care for everyone” like Romney put into Mass. We don’t support abortion. We don’t buy into global warming. We want oil independence from the Middle East through using our own resources. We are not hatin’ oil like the Global warming watermelons.
Wind, solar, etc. is stupid and not ready for prime time as far as running our economy.

This guy is a loser and will hurt our cause.


34 posted on 01/04/2010 9:36:06 PM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: Lurker

Then Judge NaPOLITANO IS A LIAR?


35 posted on 01/05/2010 7:33:56 AM PST by Marty62 (former Marty60)
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To: Marty62
Then Judge NaPOLITANO IS A LIAR?

I don't care who said it. The statement is false.

We do not need a formal Declaration of War against AQ to try them as unlawful combatants. The Geneva Conventions are quite clear on the subject. Google them up and read it for yourself.

36 posted on 01/05/2010 8:44:49 AM PST by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: SaraJohnson

Who do you refer to when you say “We”...

I’m familiar with Brown’s positions. We’re talking about MA here, not Oklahoma. He has said he would vote against HC and Cap N Trade. Not sure what you mean when you say he will hurt our cause. Stopping HC should be your cause. Stopping Cap N Trade should be your cause. He stops the 60th Harry Dingy vote. He is not ideal by any means and doesn’t reflect my conservative views. But in MA, I’ll take it.


37 posted on 01/06/2010 4:47:06 PM PST by 506Lake (Complacency is no longer an option, folks.)
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To: 506Lake

I understand your idea. I don’t support Rinos anymore because I have seen what they do in abetting socialism and undermining conservatives in the GOP.

Arnie...McCain...Twinkletoes Graham...the Maine sluts...Spector... But you do your thing. I think you are much more in the minority than you think. Moderate Republicans...pup tent territory.


38 posted on 01/06/2010 10:12:26 PM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: SaraJohnson

I don’t support RINO’s. Never again. After McCain, I said I would never vote for a RINO again. No Romney, No Huck, No Pawlenty... Gramnesty, etc... to many to mention.

I view MA as a separate situation. I don’t view myself in the minority when it comes to Brown. Many view his vote as a way to stop Reid in the Senate. The special election is only 2 yrs, then that Senate seat is up again.

You don’t know me. Please don’t assume who I am. I’m close 2 being right of Freep. But, I used to work at the US Senate; I understand the game of politics as well as anyone. Brown 4 two years to slow down Bambi’s policies and that seat is up again in 2012. In the meantime, we may have slowed down socialism.

I agree with you 100% about the crimes, corruption and harm of socialist policies, RINO tendencies and this destructive Administration. Its pathetic. RINO Republicans need to be voted out & I work from that framework.


39 posted on 01/07/2010 9:53:40 AM PST by 506Lake (Complacency is no longer an option, folks.)
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