Posted on 09/18/2006 6:55:09 PM PDT by Daniel T. Zanoza
Earlier this year, I made a friendly wager with a Republican legislative aid whereby I picked U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to be the GOP's presidential nominee in November 2008. Though the Viet Nam veteran was responsible for some highly dubious legislation in the past, including the infamous McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Bill, I still believed the Party's base could have given him their vote, in order to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House.
However, McCain--who obviously loves to see his name in print--cannot seem to stand prosperity within his own political Party. Earlier this year he was one of the leading proponents regarding comprehensive immigration reform. In other words, the Arizona Senator was, and still is, in favor of guest worker status and amnesty for illegal immigrants. He supports these positions, even though a vast number of Americans want our nation's border with Mexico secured before any consideration can be given to other plans.
McCain also voted for the bill that would have provided federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. This legislation was strongly opposed by social conservatives. McCain seemed willing to fudge the realities concerning the benefits of stem cell research for political expedience. President George W. Bush eventually vetoed the bill. But it is clear, if McCain assumed the presidency, he would sign such a bill into law.
However, McCain's latest bit of holier than thou political gamesmanship might represent the proverbial straw that will break the camel's back for social conservatives who were considering giving McCain their vote in the 2008 Republican presidential primaries.
McCain believes terrorists should be granted the protection of the Geneva Convention, if captured during combat with American or coalition-led forces. McCain has opposed coercive interrogation techniques, including sleep deprivation and other non-lethal methods of questioning. The former prisoner of war believes if Americans do not apply Geneva Convention rules to imprisoned terrorists, such actions will put captured U.S. soldiers in harm's way. The concept is ridiculous because, in the case of the war against Islamic terrorists, these combatants observe no rules.
"The interrogation debate is absurd. We are dealing with a civilian-clothed enemy that hides, murderously, among innocent civilians," said Major John Birch, a retired U.S. Army Airborne Officer and Counterintelligence Agent. "In fact, these Jihadists have no Geneva Convention to protect them to start with. Only uniformed, readily identifiable, soldiers are protected."
Birch's point is well taken because it's based in common sense. In prior wars, if enemy combatants were captured behind enemy lines, they were not covered by the Geneva Convention and, in many cases, these combatants were summarily executed. But Birch believes McCain's ideas for compassionate interrogation play into the enemy's hands.
"To the point of interrogation: How is it productive for detainees to know what limits our interrogators have placed on them?" added Birch. "It is a huge advantage to the detainee if he knows in advance what to expect and can therefore mentally prepare to resist."
Birch referenced the case of two American soldiers, Privates Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, who were tortured, murdered and their bodies were mutilated and left to rot on an Iraqi roadside like garbage. Is McCain telling us the people who did this will suddenly decide to follow the Geneva Convention, if Americans will only stop depriving detainees of sleep and refrain from playing loud music to do so? It's a silly and dangerous mindset, following a line of thinking that fantasizes we are in a conventional war against foes who follow rules.
Unfortunately, other Republicans have joined McCain in his fantasy world. Republicans John Warner (Virginia) and Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) have also joined this bandwagon of insanity. But the rationale these men use to support such madness is even more troubling. They claim CIA interrogators would not necessarily be constrained from using coercive interrogation techniques because, after all, if a bomb were hidden somewhere in a large American city, and interrogators did abandon strict adherence to Geneva Convention protocol to save the lives of thousands, no one would prosecute them due to the fact their actions would be understood.
This is obviously madness and, to his credit, President Bush wants a clear definition of what can and what cannot be done to obtain information from members of terrorist organizations--besides their name, rank and Jihad number.
To make the matter even worse, McCain and his utopia-obsessed cohorts are providing political cover for the policy of appeasement being advanced by Democrats. This strategy supports the notion America is the aggressor and in need of reform and restrictions on its behavior. If this would only happen, these men of vision will tell you, Islamic killers will lay down their arms and throw flowers, instead of bombs and kill time, instead of babies.
The press loves John McCain. They call him a man who speaks his mind. Perhaps an endorsement from the mainstream media regarding a politician should give us all pause.
McPain can kiss it goodbye.
I don't get it. McCain knows the power of *ahem* persuasion...so much so, that he gave it all up after 4 days captive.
I don't know how the gang of 4 can see it as the "moral high ground" to put everybody else's families at higher risk so that they can feel good about themselves. It is a hypothetical that rough methods of interrogation could jeopardize future captive Americans; it is a clear and present danger that detainees are concealing plans intended to kill American families now.
Go to liberalscostlives.com for a great article on McCain and interrogation.
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