Posted on 12/15/2003 3:06:12 PM PST by FlyLow
CBS’s Lesley Stahl is worried the U.S. might “torture” Saddam Hussein by depriving him of sleep or making him “very cold” or “very hot.” Interviewing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for Sunday’s 60 Minutes, Stahl wanted Rumsfeld to confirm: “The Red Cross can see him soon?” She soon raised the notion of “torture,” demanding to know: “Would we deprive him of sleep, would we make it very cold where he is, or very hot? Are there any restrictions on the way we treat him to get him to cooperate more than he has been?” When Rumsfeld insisted we would we follow the Geneva Conventions, that wasn’t good enough for Stahl who pressed: “Sleep deprivation, that kind of thing. You're ruling it completely out, is that what you're telling us?”
That elicited a classic Rumsfeld response: “I'm not telling you anything other than I have just told you.”
For 60 Minutes, CBS put Rumsfeld on the Face the Nation set in Washington, DC while Stahl quizzed him from a set in New York City.
When Stahl raised the conditions in which Hussein is being held, Rumsfeld assured: “His circumstance is he is at an undisclosed location for obvious reasons. He is being accorded the protections of a prisoner of war and his treatment will be governed by the Geneva Convention.” Stahl wanted to know: “The Red Cross can see him soon?” Rumsfeld: “Those are judgments that will be made by the lawyers as we go along, but one need not worry that he'll be treated in a humane and professional way.” Stahl: “There have been some suggestions that he might try and bargain -- in other words, he'll say okay, 'I'll tell you something about weapons of mass destruction or whatever it is, the insurgency, if you will spare my life.’ Would we engage in a negotiation with this man?” Rumsfeld: “The treatment of a person in his circumstance, it seems to me, is going to end up being discussed by the coalition at a high level, and lawyers will be involved and I think it's a bit early to begin making snap decisions about what might be done. But I think that in the last analysis here's a man who has killed so many tens of thousands of people who will have to be held accountable and brought to justice in some form in some way.” Stahl: “Now, you said that he would be treated as a prisoner of war, but what if-” Rumsfeld: “No, he would be accorded the privileges and as though he were a prisoner of war, not that he necessarily is one. And I say that advisedly.” Stahl: “What’s the distinction?” Rumsfeld: “We don't know yet, but to the extent that he was involved in the insurgency, that one would, a lawyer might say something either different from or in addition to. That's why I just said he would be accorded the protections for the time being of a prisoner of war and certainly his treatment would be governed by the Geneva Conventions.” Stahl bemoaned how Hussein might not get 5 star hotel treatment: “Let me raise the whole question, for lack of a better term, torture. Let's say he's not forthcoming. Would we deprive him of sleep, would we make it very cold where he is, or very hot? Are there any restrictions on the way we treat him to get him to cooperate more than he has been?” Rumsfeld retorted: “You know, to even raise the word torture in terms of how the United States military would treat this person seems to me is a unfortunate. We don't torture people and here's a man who has tortured to death tens of thousands of people, conducted rape and brutality the likes of which it would be difficult to find a more vicious and brutal dictator in our adult lifetimes. And I just told you that he would be treated according to the Geneva Conventions and to suggest that any one would be engaged in torture or conduct inconsistent with the Geneva Conventions seems to me isn't on the mark at all.” Stahl: “Sleep deprivation, that kind of thing. You're ruling it completely out, is that what you're telling us?” Rumsfeld: “I'm not telling you anything other than I have just told you. He'll be treated according to the Geneva Convention and given the protections of a prisoner of war.”
CBS has posted a transcript of the interview, but I noticed some errors in comparing it to what aired: www.cbsnews.com
Freudian slip.....(one can hope)
Imagine the irate press when word of her torture got out. Angry because good people like her shouldn't be tortured.
OTOH, some lib would spring her in real life, and she would go on to interviews and write articles about how 'nicely' they treat their 'guests' (read: prisoners) and how the stories of torture are unfounded. Etc, etc, etc... And 10 other innocents would take her place because of how close they came to being exposed. Remember during the X42 era when the Balkans were overrun with jihadi intent on converting, torturing or just eliminating the locals? Reports came of mass graves and tortures but most reporters ignored the story. The Brits finally broke the big story and wondered why we ignored it and American press was forced to pay attention. The Serbs (and Milosevic was not a nice guy) took the heat and they were not blameless, but the jihadi atrocities were roundly ignored. The Balkans are still a troubled area and guess who is stirring up the trouble? Oh, yes, those jihadi, often from other countries, who were branded as 'poor victims' a decade ago. Sigh.
After 48 hours, I would have someone that appears to be a high ranking officer come into the room looking very threatening...and all he would do is place another large picture on each wall...of President GHWB (Bush I). Let another 48 hours go by...
The next move would be to wheel in a TV/VCR showing a non-stop video loop of shock and awe bombing...with full audio volume...another 48 hours.
Next would be to change the video loop to those Saddam torture videos...with a non-stop audio background of Iraqi people saying "It's our turn now...it's our turn now..." again 48 hours non-stop.
Then, I would have the big, threating looking officer come in, turn out the light, and leave.
That's when the fun could begin...
That would be a lonely room for Lesley.
The rest is up to everyones imagination.
Saddam's probably already singing like a canary.
If that doesn't work, we'll let the Mossad talk to him for a minute or three. Them Joooos are very persuasive, I hear.
On the contrary, I think her loyalty to Saddam would become even greater (if that's possible).
I don't believe that Iraq ever agreed to the Geneva convention. If I were in charge, he'd welcome "very hot" or "very cold". The SOB deserves a long, painful death after all useful information is extracted from him.
Sorry, Stahl, you ought to choose your friends more carefully.
Good God, man, have you no respect for the Geneva Conventions?
Fine. IMO, it would be preferable to make him assume room temperature.
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