View Full Version : Pelosi and Torture
BMT (RIP)
12-10-2007, 16:20
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=258258
BMT
longrange1947
12-11-2007, 14:50
Interesting blog. :rolleyes:
Anyone tell me where in the Bill of Rights that it mentions Prisoners of War.
Oh well, so much for the "progressive" point of view. :munchin
The Reaper
12-11-2007, 15:00
I don't care what they say, waterboarding isn't torture.
What the Iraqis were doing to theor own people before we got there was torture. What the NVA was doing to American servicemembers was torture. What the Russians were doing was torture. What the North Koreans and Chinese were doing was (and still is) torture. What our current allies, the Japanese and Germans were doing in WW II was torture.
Where is this newfound moral imperative we are seeing from these other nations, while Islamic terrorists still saw people's heads off on TV, and cook children alive to serve to their families?
And a little psychological pressure on captured foreign terrorists is now torture? (There are no POWs, as far as I can tell.)
If I was captured, and waterboarding was the worst they could do to us, I would sleep well at night.
As it is, I echo the previous comments on another thread. If hooking up one Islamic terrorist's privates to a car battery will save an American life, all I have to say when they are hooking him up is, remember that red is positive and black is negative.
TR
Before going to Nam in 1971 (yeah - the war was still going on then), I went through a POW training session set up by Maj (I think) Nick Rowe. Water boarding was one of the techniques used on us and I will fully attest to the effectiveness of it. The training was extremely realistic and totally convinced me that there was no way I was going to be taken prisoner.
It's been a while since I've studied the rules of land warfare, but I don't seem to remember any mention of protections for non-uniformed combatants. They were usually considered as guerrillas or spies and denied the protection of the Geneva Convention, let alone the United States Bill of Rights.
60_Driver
12-11-2007, 17:16
Before going to Nam in 1971 (yeah - the war was still going on then), I went through a POW training session set up by Maj (I think) Nick Rowe. Water boarding was one of the techniques used on us and I will fully attest to the effectiveness of it.
It worked on my ass. But I agree with TR, if that's the worst then I wouldn't lose any sleep. Very unpleasant, but it's not going to leave a permanent mark, much less kill you...
Torture is really a subjective word. The big problem I see with it is that it's become a beltway buzz word. "Ewww he condones torture" or "Yipee! he's taken a strong stance against torture."
Is it starving a detainee because all the meals aren't to his beliefs. Isn't the choice his whether or not to eat?
If you have a guy saying he'd rather die than do thus and so what are you supposed to do with that person other than say "As you wish."
I think this waterboarding issue is silly. I'll bet there are a great many bad guys who feel the same way TR does. Part of a working technique is having the bad guys believe there's worse to come and wondering about what comes next. Truth be told we don't know the half of what methods professional interrogaters use nor should we.
Interesting blog. :rolleyes:
Anyone tell me where in the Bill of Rights that it mentions Prisoners of War.
Oh well, so much for the "progressive" point of view. :munchin
It's a blog from The Nation. Consider the source. Mother Jones is less biased.
warrottjr
12-17-2007, 12:48
Anyone tell me where in the Bill of Rights that it mentions Prisoners of War.or terrorists.