What is waterboarding?

[Buc_em_up]

I opened this thread expecting to learn about a new evolution in the sport of wakeboarding or something like that...

I would have to agree though. Because toruring is going to produce results, it will continue to happen, even if it isnt resulting in people divulging the truth. As long as they get answers people will keep torturing unfortunatly.

[Zamboni_Driver]

And we could get Clinton to admit he's got a thing for big girls. I kid, I kid.

Last time I checked, the appreciation of big, beautiful women did not get people killed.

Ehhh...its all perspective...while he was getting the chrome on his trailer hitch polished, Osama was planning the biggest attack against US civilains ever, and the US had a shot to take him out and didn't.

[StrykerFSU]

Again, the point was that leaders in Congress from both parties were made aware of the CIA's tactics and did not voice any objection, even asking if the efforts were strenuous enough. To be more blunt, why did Pelosi think that waterboarding was OK in '02 and not OK when it became public? A lot of politcial hay has been made about this program, which has been discontinued, and it is only fair to point out that those who have heaped so much criticism were aware of the program from its inception.

I tend to side with Sen. McCain on this issue. The U.S. sacrifices its moral high ground when it employs these methods and the information gained is suspect at best.

As to the CIA tapes that were destroyed, it will be interesting to see what the investigation uncovers. The Director has stated that they were destroyed to protect the identities of the interrogators, though it should be noted that he was not in charge at the time. It should also be noted that the tapes were destroyed against the wishes of the Bush Administration. I suspect that they were destroyed to protect American intelligence assets that might have resulted from the interrogations but I doubt we'll ever know.

[KnoxVegas]

Ehhh...its all perspective...while he was getting the chrome on his trailer hitch polished, Osama was planning the biggest attack against US civilains ever, and the US had a shot to take him out and didn't.

And that is a stretch to assume so. Bush also had 9 months to do something as well. I wonder how many PDB's Clinton had entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Strike In US" (http://theprogressivetruth.blogspot.com/2007/08/bin-laden-determined-to-strike-us.html), that he later dismissed. I also find it hypocritical that a self-professed Christian president is so enamored with torture.

If you need me, I will be off reading My Pet Goat. I understand that it is a real page turner and keeps the reader so enthralled that not even the announcement that the country is under attack can get the reader to put it down.

[Zamboni_Driver]

Ehhh...its all perspective...while he was getting the chrome on his trailer hitch polished, Osama was planning the biggest attack against US civilains ever, and the US had a shot to take him out and didn't.

And that is a stretch to assume so. Bush also had 9 months to do something as well. I wonder how many PDB's Clinton had entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Strike In US" (http://theprogressivetruth.blogspot.com/2007/08/bin-laden-determined-to-strike-us.html), that he later dismissed. I also find it hypocritical that a self-professed Christian president is so enamored with torture.

If you need me, I will be off reading My Pet Goat. I understand that it is a real page turner and keeps the reader so enthralled that not even the announcement that the country is under attack can get the reader to put it down.

Also a very true perspective...

What I've come to realize is that the US government is an autonomous being. Just as an individual's character is made up of their history and experiences, the US government, its actions and policies, are the way they are because of its experiences. Thus no one political party over 4 or 8 years can cause the government to do a 180. As new administrations are elected, the government doesn't disregard the past, instead the administrations have to accept the norms set before them. The US government has direction and momentum, the parties simply direct it a little right or a little left, but overall they do not control the direction.

And back to the topic. The government under both parties were blind to the events of 9/11. Harsh interrogation techniques like waterboarding were not created by Bush or Clinton. These acts were set into motion decades before these two ever took office. The next administration will be dealt similar issues that started before the previous ones.

We often only look at the surface to place blame and never look beneath for the real issue.