U.S. government condemns "waterboarding" as torture

Yahoo News ^ | March 2, 2009 | Randall Mikkelsen

[Moonman62]

It always looked kind of fun to me.

[jveritas]

I am sure a steak dinner and ice cream for dessert will make the terrorists sing like a bird (extreme sarcasm).

[dfwgator]

[Ol' Sparky]

Does anyone really believe Holder wouldn't stick ice pick in a terrorist's knee if that is what it took to get information to save his own loved ones?

[jveritas]

I do not see anywhere where “water boarding” meets the definition of torture in the US code that you posted. Water boarding is the most effective method to make terrorists speak. If we take out water boarding is much more dangerous than you think.

[Thrownatbirth]

Dilbert Dunker is now a wanted criminal.

[DoughtyOne]

Water Boarding = Torture

These are terrorists, not the recognized troops of a sovereign nation. These people target women and children. They are not covered under the terms of the Geneva Convention.

The physical discomfort is only temporary. As for mental torture, that will dissipate almost instantly, when the tactic is ceased.

So trying to play this off as something only a pariah state would incorporated into their game plan, is a very flimsy argument indeed.

Terrorist’s discomfort vs Thousands of innocent victims lives... hmmmm... that’s a tough one.

[Malone LaVeigh]

Apparently, Obama is going to employ the much more effective cookies & milk interrogation method.

[Carling]

I've learned that with this administration, you take the opposite of what they say as what the truth is. So, while they condemn “waterboarding”, I fully expect them to use it and than act outraged when instances of it come to light.

[La Lydia]

Why don’t I feel any safer?

[Huck]

First, thanks for engaging in reasoned discussion. Appreciate that. Coverage under Geneva Convention would have something to do with the legality of torture, perhaps, but not the question of whether it is or isn't torture.

I would assume that for waterboarding to be successful, the recipient has to believe it may not be temporary. They escalate the procedure until the person cracks. If that person knew it was not going to result in death, or if they were not under physical/mental pain, why would they talk? Why would it work? It seems to me the fact that it works is proof that it does fit the definition.

[Dilbert56]

Pussy

[neodad]

The new torture will be to give them a portfolio of stock and make them watch it drop off the earth. They’ll crack within a week.

[usmcobra]

If waterboarding is torture, then why do we do it to our own soldiers as part of SERE training?

Because We take the same steps to insure the safety of our soldiers when we do it to them as when we do it to terrorists.

Water broading is no less dangerous than a San Francisco S&M session when done correctly. However since The Obama administration see fit to condemn it might I suggest some alternatives....

After about 12 hours straight I believe they will talk.

[Huck]

It seems to me it fits A and C. If the recipient didn't feel pain/suffering, or fear imminent death, why would it work? Why is waterboarding effective, if not because it causes great physical mental suffering and/or creates a fear of imminent death? What makes it work?

As for the danger in doing away with waterboarding, I'm not even arguing that point. It may well be dangerous to do away with it. But if I am right, that it is torture, then the proper course of action is to make it legal. Make the case to the American people, put it to a vote in Congress and change the law. That's the republican way of doing things. There are plenty of laws that are not helpful to us, or are even dangerous to us, but we must obey the law, don't you think?

[Wpin]

But, it is okay to tear the limbs off of babies in the womb, and if they screw up and the baby lives to make it to outside the womb, then it is okay to throw the baby in the garbage. Oh, and it is fine with this monster to create life to use it for so called medical research.

What a lying, scumbag...phony as is his philosophy.

[Sigurdrifta]

The next step will be “If waterboarding is torture, then why have you been making our own troops (including my son, who went through SERE)undergo waterboarding (i.e. torturing our own troops)for years?”

You can almost sense this coming.

[Dilbert56]

Longest on record is less than two minutes: KSM. If the subject believes he is going to die then yes, it is torture because it’s a mock execution. However, if the subject knows it’s being done to extract information, he knows he won’t be allowed to die because he can’t provide information once he’s dead.

[dools007]

Hmmmm—Do I feel more or less secure than before this naieve and ill considered decision?

[DoughtyOne]

Huck, moments after the person is water boarded, they are breathing and okay. Thus it cannot be qualified as torture. The next morning they wake up as healthy as they ever were.

Torture causes long term physical and or mental damage. To my way of thinking, classifying water boarding as torture, serves to diminish unacceptably, what actual torture is, and why IT and IT only should be banned.

I appreciate your argument, but I’m going to have to disagree.