Posted on 01/18/2010 10:30:14 AM PST by ventanax5
This week saw the premiere of a new season of 24, with CTU agent Jack Bauer preparing to leave the world of counterterrorism for a quiet life as a grandfather in Los Angeles. But he is pulled back into the fight to stop the attempted assassination of a Middle Eastern leader in New York. As he questions an informant, he thrusts a gun into the man’s neck but then pulls back, telling him, “You’re lucky I’m retired.” In another time, the man would have suffered far worse.
The public view of interrogations had been shaped by the fictional Bauer, who captures a terrorist and proceeds to torture him — holding down his head in a bathtub full of water, using a Taser to shock him, lopping off his fingers with a cigar cutter — while screaming questions until the terrorist finally breaks and gives up the location of the nuclear bomb that is about to go off.
For some critics of U.S. interrogation policy, this is not fiction, but a depiction of reality. In Newsweek, Dahlia Lithwick has written that “high-ranking lawyers in the Bush administration erected an entire torture policy around the fictional edifice of Jack Bauer.” And Philippe Sands, author of the book Torture Team, has written that the show has been the “midwife” for torture’s “actual use on real, living human beings.” None of this is true.
Unlike these critics, I have had the chance to actually meet the real Jack Bauers — the CIA officials who questioned Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other senior terrorist leaders and got them to reveal their plans for new terrorist attacks. They explained to my why their approach has nothing in common with the methods used by Bauer on the fictional 24.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
bookmark for later
Personally, I never believed in the Jack Bauer approach. I’m more of a Harry Callahan type.
Bookmarking until AFTER DVR is viewed!
Well do ya punk?
Good article. Marking it to show other people later.
Put the paddles on their ears AFTER they’ve be “debriefed.” Speedy trial and punishment, etc.
“Everytime I try to get out, they pull me back in.”
We should outsource our terrorist interrogations to the Saudis or some other middle eastern country. They don’t need no stinkin Miranda Rights.
for later
Speaking of the Saudis, did anybody else see the Cavuto segment with the “Billionaire” from Saudi Arabia who was a guest on Cavuto’s show.
I DVR the show every day, but some evenings I don’t get the chance to see the program. When I finally got a chance to view the show, the Saudi man said (paraphrasing): For 8 years when Bush was president, THERE WERE NO ATTACKS UPON AMERICA. Then, he added, “this current admin needs to get as tough as Bush”. That’s still a paraphrase - but I know it’s close to what he said.
I was stunned. Here was a Muslim saying that Obama was NOT TOUGH ENOUGH ON THE TERRORISTS. I found that remarkable - and the total opposite of what the state media has been saying.
This article eplains how interrogations worked and how effective they were. Excellent article.
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