Cheney admits authorizing detainee's torture
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Cheney admits authorizing detainee's torture
David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Published: Monday December 15, 2008http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cheney_admits_authorizing_detainees_torture_1215.html
Outgoing VP says Guantanamo prison should stay open until end of terror war, but has no idea when that might be.
Monday, outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney made a startling statement on a nation-wide, televised broadcast.
When asked by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl whether he approved of interrogation tactics used against a so-called "high value prisoner" at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, Mr. Cheney, in a break from his history of being press-shy, admitted to giving official sanctioning of torture.
"I supported it," he said regarding the practice known as "water-boarding," a form of simulated drowning. After World War II, Japanese soldiers were tried and convicted of war crimes in US courts for water-boarding, a practice which the outgoing Bush administration attempted to enshrine in policy.
"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," Cheney said. "And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it."
He added: "It's been a remarkably successful effort, and I think the results speak for themselves."
ABC asked him if in hindsight he thought the tactics went too far. "I don't," he said.
The prisoner in question, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who the Bush administration alleges to have planned the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is one of Guantanamo's "high value targets" thus far charged with war crimes.
Former military interrogator Travis Hall disagrees with Cheney's position.
"Proponents of Guantanamo underestimate what a powerful a propaganda tool Guantanamo has become for terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, despite several Department of Defense studies documenting the propaganda value of detention centers," he said in a column for Opposing Views.
"For example, West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center has monitored numerous Al Qaeda references to Guantanamo in its recruitment propaganda materials," continued Hall. "Improvements to Guantanamo’s administration of judicial mechanisms will not make its way into Al Qaeda propaganda. Nothing short of closing Guantanamo will remove this arrow from its quiver."
President-elect Barack Obama has promised to close the prison and pull US forces out of Iraq. Cheney, however, has a different timeline for when Guantanamo Bay prison may be "responsibly" retired.
"Well, I think that that would come with the end of the war on terror," he told ABC.
Problematic to his assertion: Mr. Bush's "war on terror" is undefinable and unending by it's very nature, and Cheney seems to recognize this as fact.
Asked when his administration's terror war will end, he jostled, "Well, nobody knows. Nobody can specify that." -
People will confess to anything if you tortured them.
Taken from the movie "Body of Lies".
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But Cheney wasnt tortured.... (hahaha)
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The Arabs cut off heads and post clips on the net for everyone to see
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But they get hunted down like terrorists and air-striked from 30,000 feet.
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Man.. we need torture.
Or else how the f we get information outta these dudes.
So, if u get tortured... 咬 舌自�! lol.. if it even works. hahaha
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Originally posted by freedomclub:
But they get hunted down like terrorists and air-striked from 30,000 feet
Like how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi met his fate?
During a war, a soldier don't live among women and children. Only terorrists do.
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Do you want to ask the Lancet how many Iraqis have died?
Anyway, the whole point of this thread is to avoid being hypocritical by ignoring the human rights abuses by the US. No one is trying to be a "terrorist" symphathiser.
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Originally posted by BadzMaro:
Man.. we need torture.
Or else how the f we get information outta these dudes.
So, if u get tortured... 咬 舌自�! lol.. if it even works. hahaha
As someone posted earlier, people will say anything to stop the torture. How is that effective in getting accurate information out? -
Originally posted by freedomclub:
Do you want to ask the Lancet how many Iraqis have died?
Anyway, the whole point of this thread is to avoid being hypocritical by ignoring the human rights abuses by the US. No one is trying to be a "terrorist" symphathiser.
Iraqis killed by US and allies or Iraqis killed by fellow Muslims?
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Originally posted by freedomclub:
As someone posted earlier, people will say anything to stop the torture. How is that effective in getting accurate information out?Thats why u verify his information n keep him alive. N if the information is wrong...
he knows what's coming. lol
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Originally posted by googoomuck:
Iraqis killed by US and allies or Iraqis killed by fellow Muslims?
Either way, its because of the US invasion.
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Originally posted by BadzMaro:
Thats why u verify his information n keep him alive. N if the information is wrong...
he knows what's coming. lol
I didnt know torture can be conducted in a precise way to keep a person just beyond dying.Besides, beyond a certain point, torture will break a person psychologically so that he will not even be capable of thinking straight.
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Originally posted by freedomclub:
I didnt know torture can be conducted in a precise way to keep a person just beyond dying.Besides, beyond a certain point, torture will break a person psychologically so that he will not even be capable of thinking straight.
Well.. its called torture right ? to break his spirit n just give in. It will be so easy.. if he wouldve just told them what they wanted to know n it will be all over. The pain will go away. All he gotta do is just tell them the truth, thats all they ask from him. I am sure they were reasonable , its when the person being interrogated decided not to co-operate, n decides to do things the hard way.
Anyways la, this kind of philosophical debate is tough depends on where u stand in this entire notion of torture being a just method n where does it begin n where does it end. Torture the dude to save 500 of ur men , or 1500 of ur men dead with lack of information.
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As far as being human is concerned, if you can inflict unbearable pain on someone you're not treating them as another human being, just like you.
And pain might go away, but psychological scars linger.
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Originally posted by freedomclub:
Either way, its because of the US invasion.
So, let the Arab sword of justice settle the dispute.
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Well friend , it depends if i think that using another person as a means is right, also depends if i am utilitarian or which kind of utilitarian. Or maybe i am not ?Maybe i am deontological or maybe i am just being an ethical egoist.
Unbearable pain... you would be dead already if its unbearable.
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Originally posted by googoomuck:
So, let the Arab sword of justice settle the dispute.
While continuing to bomb them from 30,000 feet with Predators and Reapers.Look, whats your point? I posted this article to point out how politicians can commit war crimes and get away. I wasnt even trying to justify the actions of "terrorists". If anyone wants to condemn Arab terrorists, then they should look at how barbaric the US can be and vice versa. The point is not to be one-sided.
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Originally posted by BadzMaro:
Well friend , it depends if i think that using another person as a means is right, also depends if i am utilitarian or which kind of utilitarian. Or maybe i am not ?Maybe i am deontological or maybe i am just being an ethical egoist.
Unbearable pain... you would be dead already if its unbearable.
Its just semantics. What do you want to call it? Electrocuting someone's testicles, water-boarding them, engaging in sensory deprivation, hanging them from the ceiling from their skin etc -
Originally posted by freedomclub:
Its just semantics. What do you want to call it? Electrocuting someone's testicles, water-boarding them, engaging in sensory deprivation, hanging them from the ceiling from their skin etclol.. electrocuting someone by the balls. Anyways , put it this way. If i was apprehended by you, i would say.. lucky me. But if u were apprehended by me.. too bad for you.
We both have different objectives. Its just how we go about achieving it is the issue. What we are willing to do to get things done. Thats why u are not suited for the job.
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Anyone still remembers this movie:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Siege
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Originally posted by freedomclub:
As someone posted earlier, people will say anything to stop the torture. How is that effective in getting accurate information out?Very easy. Tell the truth and once it can be verified, the prisoner can have an easier life for the rest of the stay in prison.
Otherwise, more to come.
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So you guys support the Japanese torturing the chinese last time? Heard they even try plucking out the hair one by one until you die, the other tactic is to immerse your hand into dry ice and then dip in warm water and remove your skin directly after that. also about the needles poke into your eye slowly so you can feel the pain. If you all go through it, maybe you will understand better the whole notion.
Secondly, an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind. Self destruction is common in humans. Is this intelligence?