Obama's Mistake: Britain Did Torture

Time.com (Swampland) ^ | 04/30/2009 | Michael Scherer

[BuckeyeTexan]

Last night, Barack Obama said he had recently read an article about Winston Churchill during the London blitz. "Churchill said, 'We don't torture,' when the entire British -- all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat," Obama said. "And then the reason was that Churchill understood, you start taking short-cuts, over time, that corrodes what's -- what's best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country."

It was, perhaps, the most powerful anecdote of the night, and an apparently powerful moral condemnation of President Bush, an admitted admirer of Churchill who kept the British leader's bust in the Oval Office. But it was not entirely true. Churchill may well have said that Britain did not torture, but British archives show clearly that captured Nazis were subjected to harsh treatment in order to extract information during World War II. This morning, Michael Tomasky points to this 2005 story in the Guardian about a secret World War II detention center called the "London Cage":

[BuckeyeTexan]

Obama's paternal grandfather was supposedly brutally tortured by the British during Kenya's struggle for independence.

Obama threw Churchill under the bus when he returned the bust to P.M. Brown. Now he pulls Churchill out from under the bus?

First time I've seen him use that particular trick.

[a fool in paradise]

If Obama’s such a Winston Churchhill fan, why he give the British back the bust of Churchhill that had been gifted to America? It wasn’t his to get rid of.

[a fool in paradise]

It’s an old trick, like when the Left says “Even Nixon...”.

[NormsRevenge]

He’s grabbed Reagan so grabbing Chruchill, no surprise.

He’s a rudderless jerk... and an opportunist, nothing more.

he deserves an asterisk in the history books.. for being such a phoney.

[a fool in paradise]

Obama’s paternal grandfather was a Catholic who converted to Islam (and changed his name to Barack Obama). Don’t know what life experience caused his shift. Don’t know what role he may have played in political upheaval.

[Salamander]

“Obama threw Churchill under the bus when he returned the bust to P.M. Brown. Now he pulls Churchill out from under the bus?”

YoYobama.

[hgro]

Only the phony press can make a phony Chicago pol into a phony president.

[pnh102]

Obama's paternal grandfather was supposedly brutally tortured by the British during Kenya's struggle for independence.

Then I support Britain. There is no question that Africa was better off under colonial rule.

[blau993]

German spies captured in England during the war were given a choice. They could become part of the "Double Cross" system and feed the Germans disinformation over wireless transmitters from their jail cells, or they could hang. Some of them did in fact hang.

But of course this all happened before King Zero was born, and since it is all about him, this is of no consequence.

[BigBobber]

Once again, the left wants to blur the distinction between uniformed soldiers fighting in war, and enemy combatants hiding among civilians.

[j-damn]

I’m confused, does incinerating an entire German city count as torture or not?

[carcraft]

Obama is an idiot trying to tarnish Bush period. Obama is now realizing how tough it is to be POTUS. He complains about two wars, a recession he is worsening etc. Bush handled a recession, two wars and 9-11, hurricane Katrina with much more grace and finesse than Obama could ever hope to manage. Obama can't even get his cabinet in place with out having tax cheats, lobbyists, liars etc. It is obvious Obama’s fact checkers are sub par!!!

[dead]

They made them run in circles carrying logs and knocked on their door every 15 minutes.

Every inconvenience is torture. Every unfortunate situation is a crisis.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Who wrote the book 0bama read? Ayers?

And what books other than his own does 0bama actually read?

He hasn’t read The Constitution yet and it’s just 4 pages.

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Obama is an idiot trying to tarnish Bush period.

Not that I agreed with Bush all the time, ie amnesty, bail out, but Obama couldn't make a pimple on W's arse!

[verga]

Obama supports abortion and infanticide.
Sleep deprivation, and stress are a whole lot kinder, and oh yeah the babies are innocent, not so much the enemy combatants.

[Landru]

The zerO neglected another historical factoid.
Like from what nation did the slave traders originally hail?

Every American arriving post Civil War has had to pay time and again for the sin of slavery, still are.
While the offending country not only skated away scott-free, but some insist are largely responsible for much of the trouble America's having to deal with today.

The irony of ignorance, I guess.

[what's up]

Obama's paternal grandfather was supposedly brutally tortured by the British during Kenya's struggle for independence

True...and one reason Oshama despises Churchill.

For him to use Churchill as an example shows tremendous duplicity...it's like he's laughing down his nose at the entire population.

[Moltke]

No, no, no - the teleprompter got it wrong again. Obama didn't mean to cite Winston Churchill but rather his hero Ward Churchill.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Exactly! :)