Trump on Waterboarding: It Works, But Even ‘If It Doesn’t Work, They Deserve It Anyway’

CNS ^ | November 24, 2015 | Patrick Goodenough

[xzins]

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump doubled down Monday night on his support for waterboarding terrorist suspects, saying the interrogation method worked – and even “if it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway for what they’re doing to us.”

Speaking at a rally in Columbus, Ohio, Trump returned to a topic that caused a stir when he said on ABC “This Week” on Sunday that as president he would bring back waterboarding.

“Would I approve waterboarding? And I said, well, let me ask you a question. On the other side, they chop off our young people’s heads, and they put them on a stick.

“On the other side, they build these iron cages, and they’ll put 20 people in them. And they drop them in the ocean for 15 minutes and pull them up 15 minutes later,” Trump said. “Would I approve waterboarding? You bet your ass I would … in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat.”

“And I would approve more than that,” he continued. “And don’t kid yourself folks, it works, okay? It works.”

Trump said only a stupid person would argue otherwise. He said that said he knows important people, who want to be politically correct, who go on television and question the effectiveness of waterboarding – but then tell him privately later that it does work.

“And you know what? If it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway for what they’re doing to us,” he said. “But it works. It works.”

President Obama banned waterboarding and other so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” in 2009.

Anti-torture campaigners maintain that the controversial practice, which is said to simulate drowning, is a form of torture – a position which the Obama administration shares.

Then-State Department legal advisor Harold Hongju Koh said in 2010 that the administration “defines waterboarding as torture as a matter of law under the Convention Against Torture.” (The U.N. treaty, which the U.S. ratified in 1994, calls on states to criminalize torture and to prosecute “complicity or participation in torture.”)

In his 2010 memoir Decision Points, President George W. Bush acknowledged personally approving the “waterboarding” of leading al-Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed. The admission prompted fresh calls by U.N. officials, Amnesty International, and others for the former president to be prosecuted.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed masterminded al-Qaeda’s attacks on the U.S. on 9/11. Almost 3,000 people were killed when 19 terrorists seized passenger planes and flew two of them into the World Trade Center in New York City and a third into the Pentagon. A fourth plane went down in rural Pennsylvania after passengers confronted the hijackers.

Bush has said that the interrogation of Khalid Sheik Mohammed “helped save lives on American soil.”

[TheTimeOfMan]

Well - Cruz is my first choice - but every time Trump says something like this he gets more of my good will.

Love it.

[xzins]

I’m a fan of the rights that US citizens have although I’m not a fan of throwing out evidence that proves a murderer to be a murderer. I’m not a fan of allowing a murderer to walk because someone obtained their evidence the wrong way, but that the evidence actually did prove the murderer was a murderer.

Waterboarding is normally used to obtain info about techniques, plans, etc. in order to prevent future attacks by terrorists. It is preemptive.

Getting a confession of a murder by a civil criminal via waterboarding would, of course, be suspect. But getting the location of a murder weapon or of a body or of some physical proof of the murder is an entirely different matter.

I wouldn’t give you a wooden nickel for a confession. But, it’s pretty hard to explain away how someone knew the location of the murder weapon. He didn’t come to know it because he was being water-boarded.

[xzins]

I’m a fan of the rights that US citizens have although I’m not a fan of throwing out evidence that proves a murderer to be a murderer. I’m not a fan of allowing a murderer to walk because someone obtained their evidence the wrong way, but that the evidence actually did prove the murderer was a murderer.

Waterboarding is normally used to obtain info about techniques, plans, etc. in order to prevent future attacks by terrorists. It is preemptive.

Getting a confession of a murder by a civil criminal via waterboarding would, of course, be suspect. But getting the location of a murder weapon or of a body or of some physical proof of the murder is an entirely different matter.

I wouldn’t give you a wooden nickel for a confession. But, it’s pretty hard to explain away how someone knew the location of the murder weapon. He didn’t come to know it because he was being water-boarded.

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[xzins]

I’ll vote for him. I’m going to do all I can to insist that Cruz be his VP.

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[Balding_Eagle]

I watched the speech live last night, the crowd roared approval of water boarding.

It’s a sign, Thank God America has begun to awaken.

[Balding_Eagle]

I didn't see that qualifier in what Trump said. He just said terror suspects, so I assumed he meant terror suspects here.

He was speaking to more intellectual crowd

[avenir]

I just watched Jonathan Carl interview Cruz. Though Cruz held his own, Carl (taller) was almost right in his face and leaning in when he asked his leading questions. That right there is an issue Trump does not have because he DOES NOT ALLOW IT.

I like Cruz on substance, too, but he can be demonized by the media as a sanctimonious troublemaker whereas Trump sails right through with his stern yet affable W.C. Fields persona.

[stanne]

On one of the late night shows Seth Meyers I think Cruz was asked how did the filibuster work for him. Everyone laughed even Cruz just smiled

He can’t come back with a see how obamacare works out?

Ok. But with trump in there winning against the first enemy the media Cruz is not going to do well especially by comparison

Trump runs circles around these guys. That is the only thing that works against them. Anyonevwho runs against Hilary has to get past them. They are like the castle guards in the holy grail towards republicans. They can be the Sir Robin and skip around or King Arthur and storm it while getting crap thrown at them

[xzins]

Trump definitely knows how to handle the media.

He said he saw Muslims celebrating after 9/11 and Stephanopolous and the media said he was lying.

Then suddenly media reports surface of all the places NJ muslim celebrations were mentioned. Mark Steyn has an important article on it this morning on his website. It pretty well proves Trump correct.

Cruz is a journeyman with the media. He does well. Trump, though, is a master. In fact, they’re giving him free publicity it seems every time he opens his mouth.

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[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

That right there is funny.

[avenir]

True. It’s not Cruz the man that is the problem. He just can’t “get passed them” where Trump CAN.

[xzins]

We get told by the media daily that we’re not nearly as bright as them, that our ideas are archaic, that we are dolts. But our ideas never get fairly presented.

Along comes Trump, saying what we’re saying, and demonstrating not just the common sense of what the people think, but also demonstrating that the media are a bunch of manipulative spokespeople for the establishment.

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[xzins]

Yep. Made me laugh when I saw it.

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[stanne]

All politics is local. Ok. But all politics is playground rules. These guys had to have played backyard sports. No moms no dads. Go from there.

[stephenjohnbanker]

I still like Marie Harf-wit’s “Jobs For Jihadists” program. A

shame they at best only want to be on welfare, but any

leftist will say it’s the thought that counts.

[dfwgator]

As long as it isn’t done against Citizens, what’s the problem? This is war, you do what you have to do.