Posted on 05/29/2009 10:14:59 AM PDT by Steelfish
I was right to torture terror suspects - it saved lives, claims unrepentant George Bush
By DAVID GARDNER 29th May 2009
George Bush has defended his decision to allow the use of torture on terror suspects in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
The former president broke his silence on the scandal to insist that controversial interrogation methods like waterboarding and sleep deprivation helped save lives.
Mr Bush was echoing claims made by his former Vice President Dick Cheney that the harsh interrogation techniques vilified by the Obama administration gained valuable intelligence.
The ex-president was careful to avoid words like ‘torture’ and ‘abuse’ in his first public comments on the lighting rod issue.
Unlike Mr Cheney, he also shied away from directly criticising President Obama, who has banned the CIA from using the techniques.
Speaking in Benton, Michigan, Mr Bush talked about the ‘fog of war’ following the terror attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.
‘It was a rollercoaster of emotions, it really was.
'I vowed to take whatever steps that were necessary to protect you,’ he said to a largely sympathetic crowd of about 2,500 people in his first formal post-presidential address on Thursday night.
He said some did not understand the seriousness of the threats faced by the US after 9/11 and claimed his overriding duty was to do whatever was required to protect the public.
‘The first thing you ask is, what’s legal? What do the lawyers say is possible? I made the decision, within the law, to get information so I can say to myself, I’ve done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people,' he said.
‘You have to make tough decisions. They’ve captured a guy who murdered 3,000 citizens and that affected me.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Editors are the ones who write the headline.
Is that a direct quote?
~~God bless Pres. George W. Bush for his steadfastness in protecting us!
Why do newspaper editors allow for such biased and explosive headlines?
The sole purpose of the headline is to get your attention, in the hopes that you will end up buying the paper.
No bias here.
“How low does journalism get?”
Further... no quotations. When was this statement made?
Ah Yes, the wonderful British Press.
I Was Right To Torture Terror Suspects - It Saved Lives, ................................ Oh Yeah, are they sure it wasn’t Winston Churchill who first said that?
I miss having a President with a set!
Their overriding hatred of Pres. Bush and Repubs taints everything they do.
Of course not, they just put their own spin on his words:
The ex-president was careful to avoid words like ‘torture’ and ‘abuse’ in his first public comments on the lighting rod issue.
So the editor admits he's putting words in Bush's mouth in the headlines. This editor should be waterboarded until he promises to uphold some decent editorial standards.
"George Bush has defended his decision to allow the use of torture on terror suspects in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks... The ex-president was careful to avoid words like ‘torture’ and ‘abuse’ in his first public comments..."
The Daily Mail was hugely anti-war and hates GW Bush.
Where's the video of this. Seems like it would be all over the 24hr news shows.
Simply - to sell more newspapers.
If it bleeds, it leads.
Bush: Saving American lives is more important that the temporary discomfort and fright of terrorists.
BO: The continued comfort and well being of terrorists is more important than saving American lives.
UNREPENTENT
So I guess that would have applied to Truman for bombing Japan - twice
So I guess that would apply to Eisenhower
So I guess that would apply to Schwartzkopf
This is NOT a case where an editor simply jazzed up a headline. The article itself uses “torture” throughout as if there is no question at all, that water-boarding fits the definition.
This is a propaganda piece, period.
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