The Torture Canard

Opinion Journal ^ | June 13, 2004 | Today's Featured Article

[TennTuxedo]

Treating terrorists with kid gloves won't protect American soldiers.

It was a when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife moment. Attorney General John Ashcroft went before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and declared, "This Administration rejects torture."

Given the circumstances, it's hard to blame Mr. Ashcroft for being so defensive. But it sure would be helpful if someone in the Administration would take the initiative to challenge this latest Beltway uproar. At the very least, officials might muster some outrage over Democratic and media implications that U.S. officials have been in the business of justifying the use of torture.

[TennTuxedo]

The liberals will be out in full force attacking the core of our nation come Monday. The death of President Reagan compelled the liberal attack masters to leash and muzzle their attack dogs, however, they have grown restless and are on edge. Look for heightened venmous attacks to be launched with an unequalled fervor.

The truth is that the Democrats do not have a campaign strategy other than to bombard the Bush Administration with attack after attack on Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanomo Bay. The President will have to take an offensive approach to this matter and take the reigns of the United States' national Agenda back from the Democrats that have blindfolded our nation and hidden all of the good occurring around us.

If the President does not use his "bully-pulpit" to open the nation's eyes to the reality of the war on terrror, the great state of the U.S. economy, and other positive events in our nation, then his campaign will be sunken and all of us who have supported the President will be relegated to a future of bowing to the UN and terrorism.

[NCPAC]

"This Administration rejects torture." - John Ashcroft.

That's a huge part of the problem. Turn on the video. Torture them. Douse them in pig's blood. Execute them. Make sure THAT damned video gets aired on Al Jazeera.

[Mr. Mojo]

Some federal prosecutor on The Factor the other night was asked by O'Reilly if he would condone the torture - either physical or "emotional" - of Al Qaeda prisoners whom we were reasonably confident possessed information that could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans (from a nuke attack). The smirking idiot prosecutor basically said, after "no, I wouldn't."

People like that are every bit as dangerous as our Islamist enemies. .....perhaps even more so.

[NavySEAL F-16]

Does this strike anyone as the same answer the Dims are giving about Abu Graib, as the one that Dukakis gave when asked about his wife being raped?

[McGavin999]

If it were up to me, the media who was responsible for the release and publication of those pictures would be on trail for murder. Their hand are bloody right now and there is no telling how many lives will be lost as a result.

Yes, I know that the soldiers responsible are guilty, but there was NO need to publish those photos, the army was already preparing their trial. The media has just endangered Americans all over the globe by enraging people and giving them a "moral" excuse to murder Americans in the harshest way possible.

[NCPAC]

I absolutely agree with you. To defeat any implacable animal in battle you have to be at least as shrewd as the animal you are fighting, and far more vicious.

[yoe]

The enemies of democracy, all of them, will do anything to stop freedoms progress in the Mid-East. This is not just al-Queda and Jihadists, some of these people are thugs, hired to stop and break the voice and deeds of freedom from gaining further currency. Our media with its cameras trained on every breath and action the hooded enemy takes is helping to condemn the War on Terrorism and the War in Iraq, in effect aiding and abetting the enemy and causing many more American lives to be lost.

It is time to quit nit-picking about the Military Combatants being held and realize they want to kill you and destroy America and they can do it if the country doesn’t come together and stand behind our President and our troops who are fighting for your freedom and the freedom of an oppressed people. Powerful people like Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton trash our country and our resolve giving the enemy, not Americans, aid. Let those people and false prophets like John-turn-coat Kerry be tried as traitors to their country, for that is what they are.

[NavySEAL F-16]

If you get a chance, it would be good for everyone to read this article. Cajun girl was right when she wrote it would be a "Charles Manson" type situation.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/richlowry/rl20040610.shtml

[struwwelpeter]

Ashcroft's proper approach should have been to show the photo with the female GI holding a naked Iraqi on a leash, side-by-side with a photo of Barney Franks in a similar condition. Then he would say: "You call THAT torture?"

[Tacis]

Abu Ghraib is just another example of the ultra-left wing media and the neocommunists hitting us over the head with our language. I've seen a bunch of staged pictures that might be distasteful but certainly do not depict "torture." Yet, the left wing media and the anti-Americans in Congress have been allowed to define that word as being "anything in Iraq that they do not like."

The Leahys, Frosts, Schumers, Kennedys of the left are all being allowed to rant on, not that they oppose torture, but because they can use the concept in a partisan attack on Bush and the Republicans.

Where is Frist? Where is the Senate Judiciary dem memos that seek to destroy the government? Stop protecting left wing Republicans and let's start attacking the scumbag, crapweasel dems!!

[GSlob]

What has been reported is not a torture - (breaking, or attempting to break) the body to break the spirit - but rather amateurish attempts to break the spirit through inflicting humiliation. And to break the spirit (aka will to fight) is an absolute necessity in this war. Were it torture, we would be hearing of things qualitatively different.

[Milligan]

Too bad we live in a age of TV. American attention span is really short. It wouldn't be surprised if they are not listening to Teddy Kennedy with the Abu Ghraib scandal and yawning at the new revelations. Timing is everything. I hope Bush has experts to tell him when to apply campaign pressure.

[Milligan]

Did Graner received a background check to work with inmates foreign or domestic? Oh, I forgot. Background checks wasn't PC during the Clinton Administration. I think they down graded them to stop being too personal.