Posted on 04/26/2009 6:20:31 AM PDT by Eric
My fellow veterans please forgive me. But I must purge my soul. I only ask that you reserve judgment until you read all of if. I only want peace for all and a world free of torture.
What I saw in the military was much worse than water boarding. The prisoners were taken to a 12 foot deep pool. Feet weighted they were forced into the pool. Those who hesitated, were moved onto a plank high above the pool and forced off. They were to stay in this deep water for over an hour feet weighted and in full clothing. Those who touched the side of the pool had their fingers stepped on by angry guards. Not enough to break their fingers as that would reveal this terrible secret but just enough to inflect severe pain without detectable injury. The guards knew their craft well. Like water boarding, the prisoners were not allowed to drown. No, that would expose the cover-up.
It gets worse! I must tell all! They were then taken to a wooden building far from the main complex. A lantern like device burned in the middle of the building. It gave off a horrible gas. The prisoners were forced to run around the lantern without the benefit of the gas masks worn by the guards and sing in their native language their country’s patriotic songs. I saw them with my own eyes as they were finally released from the windowless building: eyes red, mucus flowing uncontrollably from their mouths and noses. Some looked near death. A spec of humanity prevailed as they were allowed to recover for several minutes before being taken to the bleachers.
The prisoners were taken to the bleachers. I think there were about one hundred of them. They were not restrained, no that would blow this horrible trick. The bleachers were located in a bug infested marsh. Those prisoners who moved their hands in any effort to ward of the flying bugs were severely punished. Mockingly, the guards in the native language of the prisoners said that “their bugs had to eat too.” The guard threw a dud hand grenade into the helpless group. He laughed as they scattered in terror. The prisoners were regathered and prepared for more.
I saw one prisoner taken out of out of line in just his shorts which were on backwards. Horrible sexual innuendos and insults were directed at him. I saw a tear roll down his cheek.
The prisoners were United States Marine recruits the “torture” described above was part of our training. The guards were drill instructors. The above is why we shake our heads in disbelief when water-boarding, bugs, and loud music are described as torture by the main stream press.
The above prepared us for combat so that fair-weather pacifists can stand on our street corners only in the best of weather. God forbid, they should be out in the cold or even worse the rain as that would resemble water-boarding.
Ed
USMC.
Vietnam 1967-1968
Poor treatment of prisoners - yes. Torture - no.
“Confesses?” So now it’s a crime to WITNESS torture?
Most of us know this, but it will never get published.
You gotta read the whole thing. Read it again.
Evidently a few people responded without reading the entire letter...!
Yes, it’s very good.
Read the whole post.
Read the last couple of lines of the article. These were not prisoners, they were Marine recruits going through basic training.........
Do any of you ever read the entire article before you post a reply?
Looks like some of the Freepers missed the part where he says he is talking about the Marine recruits, not prisoners!
Semper Fi, Dude!
great letter, i hope it gets published.
“Do any of you ever read the entire article before you post a reply?”
Not usually.
That’s why they generally get it all wrong.
Again, I posted this as it was written. I think the author wanted to get your attention...which he did, to make a point. By the way, I erred when I said there are no edits...to be published in the NYT, he had to submit his full name and phone number. I removed that before I posted here.
Absolutely agree!
If Kalid Sheik Mohammed was taken out into the woods in December at Camp Petawawa (NW of Ottawa) and left out there for a week, Democrats, ACLU and moslem sympathizers would all be screaming torture, deliberate freezing etc.
But that’s just part of JTF hell week that dozens of Canadian soldiers go thru every year.
The same and worse for Rangers, Seals, and certain other special forces..
To them, waterboarding is a sunday afternoon drinking game.
I did. As a former Marine myself, I was reading this and getting angrier by the word thinking ‘BS- I went through this in training! Torture, my ass!’.
Frankly if it means the lives af Americans or their own lives, and if it has a purpose, "enhance" your interrogations all you want.
Rememeber the other side cuts off heads and the aggressor sets the rules.
Μολὼν λάβε
Our youngest son was waterboarded and exposed to extreme interrogation before deploying with the Navy to a sandy place.
It’s part of the training. But God forbid we do the same to people seeking to destroy the United States.
XCamel wrote: “The same and worse for Rangers, Seals, and certain other special forces..”
you know that this ban on “torture” will be used as a rationale by liberals to force changes in SF (and Marine) training as well
When I was a midshipman, we spent a week with Marines in Little Creek VA. A marine Major called me a Pink Raider (instead of a Red Raider) because I was hesitant to go down the rapelling wall the first time. Was I tortured?
SwatTeam wrote: “the chances of it being printed
are slim and none IMHO.”
maybe the Times won’t read it either and automatically assume... just like many of the posters
Ping
As soon as I read “bug infested swamp” I thought “Parris Island.”
Thank you for posting this, Eric. To all who have served and are serving - Thank You.
Thanks to whoever wrote this for putting the fraternity hazing style happenings at Club Gitmo into perspective.
The return of the winter soldiers.
No. Americans are amateurs at torture when compared to the blood-crazed, scimitar-wielding muslims!
No. It’s a tradition on FR to respond after reading the first paragraph.
Figure the odds.
I confess to not reading the entire article.
Please accept my apologies.
http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2009/04/25/liz-cheney-breaks-nora-odonnell-on-torture-discussion/
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (and Dick Cheney daughter) Liz Cheney rips Norah O’Donnell to shreds on waterboarding/harsh interrogation tactics in this clip:
obama and his actions are a clear and present danger to our safety and to those who have sworn to protect us. We are a house divided and he and the ideology he and others follow are the wedge splitting us apart and separating us from our history and heritage.
The prisoners were United States Marine recruits the “torture” described above was part of our training.
Should read:
The "prisoners" were United States Marine recruits. The “torture” described above was part of our training.
Good post! Thanks!
Eric, as I read this after only a paragraph I knew the outcome.
Libs just don’t have a clue.
Good job
Too bad we can’t put real prisoners through even a fraction of that...
I wouldn't care if torture caused their deaths.
And I don't believe that any significant number of real Americans care, either.
Yes, but no marine, no matter how fierce, could defend the placement of underwear on a prisoners head!
The horror, the horror!
What would be the sense in that?
The bleachers were located in a bug infested marsh.Parris Island?
Nawwww...Torture for US Military training was the Tear Gas room, where you remove your mask and try and find your way out of a Tear Gas Filled Room.
Pelosi doesn’t know about this either, as she has never talked to someone who has fought for her Country (that she liked).
This letter needs to go to the media. Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, etc. I think it's great!
It would be funny if some of the liberals read it without reading to the end and started posting it as “PROOF of TORTURE.”
I suspected the motive when I got to the portion about the gas exposure. It sounded too much like my basic training. Sure enough, it was...
Was this written by Yaaawn Kerry?
Pray for America and Our Troops
>The prisoners were taken to a 12 foot deep pool. Feet weighted they were forced into the pool.
[snip]
>They were to stay in this deep water for over an hour feet weighted and in full clothing.
12 ft water is deep, heck even 8 ft water is deep, considering the normal heights of human beings. Feet weighted, and treading water, for over an hour... doesn’t really mesh. While it _can_ be done, as in the cases of sailors overboard, these three sentences don’t really go together. (I mean in 8 ft of water w/ cement overshoes the mafia can _easily_ eliminate someone.)
Excellent point, very well made.
Thanks for posting.
And thanks to the vets for their service.
We were given hot water to drink, and I drank a lot of water so I had to go #1 a lot, then I would close a curtain and stretch my back for a few minutes while the guards were not looking. We were pulled out from the cell(s) several times and taken to interrogation rooms, where were made to “push” a wall with our index fingers while leaning into the wall, or were bitch-slapped, or some of us with an attitude were waterboarded; and I cried like a little girl at the end.
My back and neck got hurt so bad, that I was literally in tears during the last two days of training-and still hurt every day to this date. But you know what? It was THE BEST DAMN TRAINING I have ever been to! I learned about myself and what my breaking point was.
PS. I also underwent Chief Petty Officer initiation, which makes a fraternity hazing party look like a homecoming dance. I remember they put us in a close room with open cans of rotting fish while they PT’d us to exhaustion. Some of us puked and maybe someone passed out. CPO initiation made me a better NCO and a better human being!
Liberal winnies- MAN UP!
Great letter by your friend, Eric. When the NYT doesn’t publish it, he should send it to the NY Post.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.