WASHINGTON, March 7, 2008
Bush To Veto Torture Bill
President Will Nix Bill Banning Waterboarding, Other Harsh Techniques On Terror Suspects
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The White House said that President Bush will veto a bill that would ban the use of waterboarding by the CIA. The president claims such a prohibition will inhibit the collection of information. (CBS)
Bush has said the bill would harm the government's ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the United States' right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country's moral standing abroad.
"The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives," deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday.
The bill would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.
The legislation would bar the CIA from using waterboarding, sensory deprivation or other coercive methods to break a prisoner who refuses to answer questions. Those practices were banned by the military in 2006.
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reported that the White House is confident that the president's veto would be sustained.
The legislation cleared the House in December and won Senate approval last month.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Yo, smitty, the Sunnis that are now fighting on "our side" are being paid 10 bucks a day to do so, and their loyalty to the US forces is hardly guaranteed.
- Reply to this comment
- vortecmax - the idiot isn''t giving a few hundred to anyone till they give it to him first. That reminds me, I''ve still got to file my return so he has my few hundred to hand out...
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- Use of torture by the US only hurts OUR young people when they are captured. Suppose the resisters in Iraq get the feeling that "anything goes"...just imagine! Seems many have forgotten the old maxim "what goes around comes around" The US has lost most of it''s world creditability due to our "terrorist questioning techniques." And the truth is...we are goading these resisters into more and more violence...we are ruthless... so they might as well be.
Once America set the tone for the world... a humanitarian tone...ask the French after WWI. Now we set the tone for authorized lawlessness. And our lead is affecting the wars in Africa.
THE LIFE OF ***EVERY TERRORIST IN THE WORLD*** IS NOT WORTH ONE MOMENT OF OUR LIBERTY OR DIGNITY OR PLACE IN THE WORLD AS A PEOPLE OF COMPASSION ...PLEASE TELL MR BUSH.
You...I mean you dear reader...are thousands of times more likely to die falling down the stairs TODAY than to be affected by terrorism. Want to "save American lives"...put treads on the stairwells and encourage folks to use the hand rail. That will save many many more American lives than all the efforts of the S.S. oops!...I mean homeland security.
When GWB allows himself to be secretly, ruthlessly and violently interrogated with the exact methods he is espousing...then MAYBE he has the moral right to torture others. Until then he is what he is...a below average, out of control, rich frat boy. - Reply to this comment
- Well, I''m sick of waiting for mbcsmith to formulate a rebuttal, so I guess that I''ll "surrender" and spend some time with my family. Keep fighting the good fight, on both sides of the table. Healthy debate formed our constitution. Hate mongers only divide us.
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- And another LIB SURRENDERS. I count three in about 15 minutes. LIBS just don''''t get it. THEY SURRENDER!
Posted by mbcsmith at 09:34 AM : Mar 08, 2008
You''re an idiot. The guy has a life, a job, a family, who knows. He''s nice enough to basically thank you for the debate and you bash him anyway. You''re the kind of dumba$$ that voted for this idiot that took us to war for nothing, lied to our faces, crumbled the economy, and thinks giving everyone a few hundred bucks will right his sinking ship. It''s this whole Rush Limbaugh us against them thinking that spews hate and divisiveness that has our country coming apart at the seams. Idiots like you are going to get a polital virgin in the white house because people long for something different. Keep spewing hate monger, your days in power are just as limited as your "conservative" views. - Reply to this comment
- I must take my leave.
Thanks, all.
As always, a pleasure.
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Posted by formrusmcsgt at 09:29 AM : Mar 08, 2008
And another LIB SURRENDERS. I count three in about 15 minutes. LIBS just don''t get it. THEY SURRENDER! - Reply to this comment
- WAit a second less terrorism? We created and entire country of terrorists.
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Posted by vortecmax at 09:29 AM : Mar 08, 2008
You mean like the Sunni population now fighting al-quaeda. You mean like the Kurdish population. Is that the ENTIRE country you are referring to. - Reply to this comment
- I take it from your supposed rabid Patriotism, you will have no problem sucking water, while inverted, threw a cloth on your head for months on end. Otherwise you can just move back to the Communist country that you CAME FROM!!!
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Posted by RushLimbaug4 at 09:27 AM : Mar 08, 2008
+ report abuse
LOL...LOL again. I''m not laughing at you, just....Well yeas I guess I AM laughing at you. - Reply to this comment
- I guess since McCain is going to give amnesty to all the illegals maybe he will make it a prerequisite that their children have to serve about 4 yrs in our military!!
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Posted by hhroams at 09:28 AM : Mar 08, 2008
McCains son did tours in Iraq. Kind of blows up your LIB talking points doesn''t it. - Reply to this comment
- I must take my leave.
Thanks, all.
As always, a pleasure. - Reply to this comment
- WAit a second less terrorism? We created and entire country of terrorists.
- Reply to this comment
- Again, you didnt buy the NIE''''s outlook on WMD''''s, but yet, you support it "Fomenting" terrorism. Again, the hipocrosy is reigning down....
Posted by poopusbuttus at 09:25 AM : Mar 08, 2008
As you can''t logically debate the reults, you try to blame shift.
Continue with my blessings in your delusion.
Enjoy it while it lasts. - Reply to this comment
- Then why do you support policies that FOMENT it?
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Posted by formrusmcsgt
It doesnt. I support fighting terrorism. I believe there is now less terrorism in the world.
Since 9/11, it dominates the news creating the appearance that terrorism is blowing up to a state that is uncontrollable. This is not the case. - Reply to this comment
- I put a little water on my face every morning. No permanent emotional or physical harm. By definition, not torture.
Posted by mbcsmith at 09:16 AM : Mar 08, 2008
Ok, mbcsmith, enough of your commie BS! Even a LIB can take a splash of water on their faces. This is not proof of your Patriotism and Love for this Nation!!!
You must report to the Pentagon, post haste, for your repeated waterboarding sessions. And yes, they must be repeated and your first 100 confessions will not count. There needs to be 101 consistent confessions in order to guarantee the effectiveness of your repeated drowning.
I take it from your supposed rabid Patriotism, you will have no problem sucking water, while inverted, threw a cloth on your head for months on end. Otherwise you can just move back to the Communist country that you CAME FROM!!! - Reply to this comment
- Posted by formrusmcsgt
Again, you didnt buy the NIE''s outlook on WMD''s, but yet, you support it "Fomenting" terrorism. Again, the hipocrosy is reigning down.... - Reply to this comment
- I support the fight against terrorism.
Posted by poopusbuttus at 09:19 AM : Mar 08, 2008
Then why do you support policies that FOMENT it? - Reply to this comment
- Is waterboarding the right thing to do? Not in my book of wrong and right.
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- First off, we''re there. We shouldn''t be, and we went under false pretenses, but we''re there. We''ve figured out that there was no WMD''s, no link to terrorism. But now there is. We''ve opened up a huge can of worms, and as much as I''d like us to cut our losses, I think that we have to keep at least a peace keeping force there. Not 125,000 troops, but enough to deter them anyway. Let''s face it, they can come here just as easily as all of our neighbors, under the fence or through the creek.
I also think that waterboarding is pointless. If you were drowning me, I would tell you whatever you wanted to hear, true or not. I could send you on a wild goose chase while the real threat unfolded. If the government could show some statistics, or some proof that it has foiled terrorist plots, I would support it. - Reply to this comment
- We disagree. I think SURRENDER hurts our country.
Posted by mbcsmith at 09:19 AM : Mar 08, 2008
It''s not an opinion I pulled out of thin air:
NIE: Iraq War Spawned New Generation of Terrorists
The National Intelligence Estimate concludes that the Iraq War has spawned a new generation of terrorists.
A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.
The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled %u201CTrends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,%u2019%u2019 it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe. - Reply to this comment
- Does this suprise anybody?... not me
- Reply to this comment
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