Comments on: Annals of Torture: End Of The Story?

Andrew Cohen: Obama Follows Long Precedent Of Wrongly Immunizing His Predecessors

[dhutch88]

How many have been prevented ? I mean real ones, not the "Miami-seven" type ?
Posted by abbe91 at 6:52 AM : Apr 17, 2009

How many attacks have been on our soil since 9/11------zero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chenz66]

How many have been prevented ? I mean real ones, not the "Miami-seven" type?
Posted by abbe91 at 6:52 AM : Apr 17, 2009

Could be the post 9/11 activities by the government made it harder for attacks to take place so there weren't any to prevent.

[talaan77]

Question for all the self righteous bloggers; How many of you personally knew someone who died in the 9/11 attacks on the WTC, Pentagon and/ or United Airlines Flight 93? If you had maybe your tune would change. These animals deserve whatever happens to them, if the interrogation tactics save one American life than it was worth it.

The problem many of those tortured were not guilty and as someone who knew people who died in 9/11 I don't agree with torturing anyone, it got them nowhere closer to getting the ones responsible for 9/11

[abbe91]

Looks like an interesting book. I'm going to have to pick up a copy. Since you were in Iraq and have more experience than I do I will take your word for it. After I read the book maybe my mind will change.
Posted by chenz66 at 6:49 AM : Apr 17, 2009

"Quotation marks or inverted commas (informally referred to as quotes[1] and speech marks) are punctuation marks used in pairs to set off speech, a quotation, a phrase or a word. The pair consists of an opening quotation mark and a closing quotation mark, which may or may not be the same character."

[abbe91]

There may always be torture, but it is the responsibility of citizens who believe in and uphold the rule of law to hold those in government accountable for their actions. If we do not, we may be the next ones to be imprisoned and tortured. Despots succeed when the governed justify their crimes as necessary, or dismiss them as business as usual. We must hold those people acting in our names accountable.
Posted by flreason at 6:51 AM : Apr 17, 2009

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn?t speak up,
because I wasn?t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn?t speak up,
because I wasn?t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn?t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

[abbe91]

My statement/question was for post 9/11 activity. How many attacks on American soil have happened after 9/11?
Posted by chenz66 at 6:44 AM : Apr 17, 2009

How many have been prevented ? I mean real ones, not the "Miami-seven" type ?

[flreason]

there always has been and always will be torture of some kind, somewhere, someplace. to think it can be eliminated somehow is like the belief that prejudice, racism, immorality, alcohol, and so many other things can and have been eliminated.....Posted by longtree-2009

There may always be torture, but it is the responsibility of citizens who believe in and uphold the rule of law to hold those in government accountable for their actions. If we do not, we may be the next ones to be imprisoned and tortured. Despots succeed when the governed justify their crimes as necessary, or dismiss them as business as usual. We must hold those people acting in our names accountable.

[chenz66]

http://www.amazon.com/How-Break-Terrorist-Interrogators-Brutality/dp/1416573151

"I never saw coercive methods [pay off]...When I was in Iraq, the few times I saw people use harsh methods, it was always counterproductive. The person just hunkered down, they were expecting us to do that, and they just shut up. And then I'd have to send somebody in, build back up rapport, reverse that process, and it would take us longer to get information."

"The things that make you a good interrogator are the same things that make you a good American."
Posted by abbe91 at 6:15 AM : Apr 17, 2009

Looks like an interesting book. I'm going to have to pick up a copy. Since you were in Iraq and have more experience than I do I will take your word for it. After I read the book maybe my mind will change.

[chenz66]

It didn't. 9/11 happened under Bush's watch and he let it happen.
But do I understand well that you suggest that Bush should have tortured Bin Laden's family
instead of letting them fly away when all other air traffic was grounded ?
Posted by abbe91 at 6:09 AM : Apr 17, 2009

i rest my case


If you're agenda is to bash Bush than you go right ahead, that is all that some people what to do. I was not a Bush fan. My statement/question was for post 9/11 activity. How many attacks on American soil have happened after 9/11? Could 9/11 have been prevented if Clinton did not cut funding for the Intelligence community? There is plenty of blame to go around.

I REST MY CASE

[abbe91]

the other option is to take no prisoners, to give no quarter, which is the best option.
Posted by longtree-2009 at 6:31 AM : Apr 17, 2009

Most of Guantanamo detainees haven't been captured during combat, but just turned to the occupation forces by neighbours for a reward. Are you saying that they should have been shot down at home and not arrested ?