Earth to John McCain
Apparently, my point of view on torture of terrorists (in extreme circumstances) is shared by most Americans (and unbelievably, by the British, French and South Koreans, too).
posted by LadybugUSA at 6:20 PM
6 Comments:
No, Earth to Carol.
That you would be so dismissive of the viewpoint of a great American who, unlike all but a handful of other Americans, knows first-hand the horror of being tortured, speaks volumes about the lengths to which you will go to toe the line for George Bush.
Do you understand that our public acknowledgment of torture under any circumstances increases the chance that future American POWs will be tortured? If they're captured by al Qaeda or other ultra-extremists, it's going to happen whether we say we do or not. But there may come a time when they are captured by another foe, one who may or may not resort to torture. They may take their cue from us.
In last month's post you said:
"But here's the hypothetical the ban's supporters don't address: If America were threatened with the imminent explosion of a nuclear device, would you support resorting to any measure that might, in fact, provide information about and save lives imperiled by the impending attack?"
In this situation, you would be hard-pressed to find a single American, or any foreign government for that matter, who would pitch a fit over us severely roughing up this individual to prevent an imminent attack. And if they did, to hell with them.
What I don't understand is why the Bush administration insists on being so open about this when nearly everything else they do is in secret (like the energy policy meetings with all the oil execs). Why now? Why not publicly state that we abhor and reject the use of torture, period, and leave an extremely rare situation like the one you described to the president, on a case-by-case basis?
Our troops and our reputation sure could use it.
And McCain said it best: "It's not about who they are, but about who we are."
"McCain said it best: "It's not about who they are, but about who we are.'"
So it would speak ill of us if we used torture to get information that saved thousands of American (For that matter, French or British lives, too) lives?
McCain's thinking isn't logical on this, to say the least. First, he says that "torture doesn't work" (He said it again on Meet the (De)Pressed" this past Sunday) but then includes a provision in the bill, not as an amendment but in its original proposal, that torturers wouldn't be prosecuted if they used it to coerce information out that saved lives. That's as circular of thinking as I've seen from your average moonbat Democrat and that's saying something.
Earth to Sen. McCain: If torture doesn't work, then why don't you fight for your beliefs and keep that provision out of the legislation? Shame on you.
I have mixed views on this issue. On the one hand, I want our military to be free to do all they can to defeat the enemy. On the other hand, I do believe the ideals we stand for are our greatest asset in the war for the hearts and minds of the worldwide public.
We simply cannot publicly stand in favor of torture. We just can't do it. I do not want - and will not stand for - our military doing anything like what is being used as evidence against Saddam Husein right now.
So I'm in favor of unofficial and official denunciation of torture.
What I'm against is the defining-down of the idea of torture. If McCain has his way, degrading treatment will fall into the same category as pulling fingernails off.
This is simply unacceptable!
Would an Islamic Extremist consider it degrading to be simply - even politely - questioned by a female? Probably so. Should that be outlawed along with permanent scarring of the face. Absolutely not!
My prblem with McCain is that I get the feeling he is yet again simply grandstanding.
I propose we as a people and the Administration as official policy denounce torture in the strongest terms possible. But I also propose we refuse to define torture. Let us treat the issue of torture like pornography - we'll know it when we see it.
Then, if and when anyone is found guilty of torturing anyone in our custody, I propose we prosecute them mercilessly.
Keep going after John McCain, Carol. As NewsMax reported in a story titled, John McCain: Torture Worked on Me, McCain broke under torture.
Nice company you are keeping.
It's a little creepy that Carol segues so easily between gushing about children's Christmas specials and advocating torture.
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