Damn, torture works. I admit it I was wrong
I wonder what our devout Christians reading this will say now. Never mind, facts don’t get in the way of opinion.
A 14-year military interrogator has undercut one of the key arguments posited by Vice President Dick Cheney in favor of the Bush Administration’s torture techniques and alleged that the use of torture has cost “hundreds if not thousands” of American lives.
The interrogator, who uses the name “Matthew Alexander,” says he oversaw more than 1,000 interrogations, conducting more than 300 in Iraq personally. His statements are captured in a new video by Brave New Films (below).
“Torture does not save lives,” Alexander said in his interview. “And the reason why is that our enemies use it, number one, as a recruiting tool…These same foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight because of torture and abuse….literally cost us hundreds if not thousands of American lives.”
Seriously though. What does he know? This guy wasn’t there. He doesn’t have access to the stuff Cheney did! We go info from Zarqawi god damnit! Torture works! We got valuable intel!!!
“The point that is most absent is that our greatest success in this conflict was achieved without torture or abuse,” Alexander wrote in a blog post Sunday. “My interrogation team found Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, the former leader of Al Qaida in Iraq and murderer of tens of thousands. We did this using relationship-building approaches and non-coercive law enforcement techniques. These worked to great effect on the most hardened members of Al Qaida — spiritual leaders who had been behind the waves of suicide bombers and, hence, the sectarian violence that swept across Iraq. We convinced them to cooperate by applying our intellect. In essence, we worked smarter, not harsher.”
dang that’s gonna leave a mark.
What’s that you say? My Jesus loving hypocrites?
Abortion is wrong! Sotomayor is an Activist.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfYov5o5_2s&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Frawstory.com%2F08%2Fnews%2F2009%2F05%2F26%2Fmilitary-interrogator-torture-american-lives%2F&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Tax cuts work!
As I said before, willPresident Obama have the courage to release all the records on this issue? Of course not.
Remember, Obama stills supports torture. He still allows rendition, preventive detention and we are holding suspected non combatants in Afghanistan. As always Obama reads from the teleprompter and does another.
Tax simplication is better than tax cuts.
Mike Protack
I don’t understand the conservative rump’s obsession with teleprompters.
“Remember, Obama stills supports torture. He still allows rendition, preventive detention and we are holding suspected non combatants in Afghanistan.”
And we are as much against him doing it as we were against Bush/Cheney doing it. By repeating your claims so often, you make it hard to escape the conclusion you have doubts about them.
One, they were already fighting us. It is stupidity to say that they got really, really mad because we questioned someone.
Yes, they used pictures taken from illegal and unauthorized activity. Activity for which we prosecuted people. It had nothing to do with lawful interrogations. Liberals of course wanted the pictures out even though it did not represent American policy. The sexual overtones were bound to offend, but liberals wanted to hurt Bush more than they cared about anything else.
The point the terrorists used was the sexual nature of some the Abu Graib affair. That seemed more offensive. They use real torture all of the time in that part of the world (not wires unhooked to any source). You all don’t even understand what upset them. That is why Liberals shouldn’t be let near government.
Shall I condemn what everyone said at the time was wrong again? Who supports Abu G.? It did nothing but give some thrills to a renegade bunch. They were not even attempting to information. It was more contempt for these guys killing their friends.
What I hate is this guy’s continued obsession is being quoted as if it had any more merit than the last time. He knows that enhanced interrogation had nothing to do with the issue. He failed to get information that others got, and for the last 5 years he has been Mr. sour grapes.
The truth is the reason E. I. is not currently necessary is due to the fact that Bush built up our intelligence capability which was in disarray because of the Clinton Democrats before him. It was not used after the emergency because we did not need it. The stain on us was the fact that we had no options and did not have the intelligence capability to keep us safe thanks to the Democrats.
just because Obama supports it doesn’t make it right or mean I’m ok with it. I’m not. It’s wrong and his ass should be held accountable if we find out he allowed it to happen under his watch.
And as predicted you ignored facts and first hand accounts of proof we aren’t safer and torture doesn’t work.
But sure, keep searching for info to prove your point.
Didn’t the CIA destroy evidence by the way?
Remember this thy wingnut:
Torture got Jesus to sing like a canary!
He sold-out everyone and admitted that he’s nothing special, just some dude from suburbia.
Jesus would be so proud of you david. so proud.
It should have. We keep to much. Then people question it years later. Some things are better unknown. That is why we have intelligence agencies.
Government “bears not the sword in vain, but is a terror to evildoers”. Romans 13
If I have my choice between David an immoral Christian and a guy that actually tortured people and oversaw interogations…I will go out on a limb and say that latter is probably right and the other is wrong.
That goes for the crackpot wannabe governor too
Quoting scripture means shit, dude.
Especially when the socio-political models are not similar in the least!
But hey, if it makes you feel better about yourself……
Then stop using Jesus in your comments and posts. I didn’t bring it up out of the blue.
The best thing is to keep this an issue of the past, enhance our intelligence capability not our interrogations. Unfortunately, you all want to tear down every advance we made including surveillance of terrorists making contacts with cells here. You refused to address my contention that the entire issue was one which should have been unnecessary. Given the circumstances, they made the right call. Let’s not put another President in that box.
It shows me that you lack a serious concern on this issue. It is just political theater.
Then stop using Jesus in your comments and posts. I didn’t bring it up out of the blue.
You always bring it up, David… when it’s convenient. Gay Marriage = sin and abomination against god. Torture… not so much.
“One, they were already fighting us.”
The use of “they” shows you don’t understand the basic premise liberals are putting forth: The extremists don’t stand for the entire Muslim world. “Harsh interrogation” helps push some of those mainstream Muslims towards the extreme.
“they used pictures taken from illegal and unauthorized activity. Activity for which we prosecuted people. It had nothing to do with lawful interrogations.”
And yet a bipartisan investigation found the opposite of your last sentence. You have, as is often the case, stated opinion as if it were fact.
“You all don’t even understand what upset them. That is why Liberals shouldn’t be let near government.”
Astounding. You actually approve of sexual humiliation against your enemies? Where did St. Paul give the OK for that?
“The truth is the reason E. I. is not currently necessary is due to the fact that Bush built up our intelligence capability which was in disarray because of the Clinton Democrats before him.”
Again, not only an opinion stated as fact, but an opinion stated IN DIRECT OPPOSITION to the facts, which are that Clinton emphasized keeping an eye on the Islamic terrorists and the Bush administration dropped the ball.
You are truly pathetic. Please go preach to your choir and stop wasting our time.
No, not there either except when it is brought up by you guys. If you say that nothing in the New Testament, etc. then I will address it. Then you say, why is he bringing in the Bible. You have a post and comments which reference Christianity and Jesus an number of times, then you run away from the slightest push back.
Back to the issue.
Torture is such a misnomer. Who supports torture? The previous administration did not support torture. It prosecuted it. You guys repeat this stuff enough that you start to believe it.
No, I don’t approve of sexual humiliation of our enemies and I supported prosecution of it.
Considering 3 paragraphs were devoted to why that was wrong and harmful, it is a puzzling statement to say that I do.
As I said that is what they used in their recruitment not enhanced interrogation.
“you all want to tear down every advance we made including surveillance of terrorists making contacts with cells here.”
Please, by all means, produce the evidence of this. None of the “terrorists” arrested by the FBI meets this level of involvement in international terror; they were all egged on by their “informants.”
And yes, David, some of us are too sane and clear-eyed to pretend this is an existential threat to our nation. Sorry, but the inability of you and your overseers to control your fears should not become our country’s problem.
“As I said that is what they used in their recruitment not enhanced interrogation.”
So then waterboarding is OK, because it’s not a recruiting tool?
Please stop twisting yourself in knots. I really don’t give even the smallest fraction of a shit what you think, I really don’t. I don’t care whether you think I’m tolerant, I don’t care what you think about any issue whatsoever. You are not here to discuss issues with anything like an open mind — you are here to proselytize, nothing more. You are spreading propaganda for your religion and your church, and I find both offensive.
By the way, Christian Man, you almost never quote Jesus. You quote the old testament and St. Paul, just like all the rest of the “Christians.”
THAT
JUST
HAPPENED!
We want to follow the laws of our own country and not tear down the Constitution because we’re scared or it’s inconvenient. There is no proof that the laws we had in place could not have prevented 9/11. Bush and his administration ignored the warnings and 9/11 happened.
We say torture doesn’t work because it doesn’t. We put in the SERE training after our own troops were tortured to give false confessions. Our purpose should not be to get false confessions. We need intelligence. To get intelligence we have to work with other governments and with law enforcement.
We know how to interrogate people, we’ve been doing it for years. We also know what happens when there are no checks on government, that’s why we have a Constitution in the first place.
Bush did not keep us safe. He screwed up, and his subsequent actions didn’t help either. Abu Ghraib was only one place where torture occurred, where we happen to have pictures. The CIA destroyed hours of taped “evidence” obtained by torture. They did this because they know it hurts the U.S. around the world (doing the torture).
Eff you, dude. I ain’t stopping shit. And from all the empirical evidence out there of your “assessments”, be it comments here or on your suck-ass blog, your assessment skilz aren’t shit either!
So when you say [something] SHOWS you [something], I laugh. I laugh out loud.
Biblical quotes, that’s what you’re reduced to. Hey, I just read the book of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. Let’s go commit genocide!!
Davey, Kate Moss would have a tough time walking through your narrow breadth of knowledge.
Keep typing dude, like VC said, your fucking foolishness amuses me.