Cheney, Rice Approved Use of Waterboarding, Other Interrogation Tactics

Cheney, Rice Approved Use of Waterboarding, Other Interrogation Tactics

www.foxnews.com

Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques.

The former intelligence official described Cheney and the top national security officials as deeply immersed in developing the CIA's interrogation program.

"Why are we talking about this in the White House?" the network quoted Ashcroft as saying during one meeting. "History will not judge this kindly."

(visit the link for the full news article)

First of all I am very surprised to read THIS damning story on the foxnews website.

This article illustrates how deeply involved Cheney and Ashcroft were in approving torture and other war-crimes and violations of humanity.

The Ashcroft quote:

"Why are we talking about this in the White House?" the network quoted Ashcroft as saying during one meeting. "History will not judge this kindly."

Tells us that Bush administration officials from Bush, and Cheney on down KNEW how wrong this stuff was and how secret they had to keep it!


www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Cheney, Others OK'd Harsh Interrogations - Huffington Post

reply to post by AllSeeingI


Real disturbing, All... Star + Flag!

It sets a very bad example by authorities. And definitely creates hatred
of the entire U.S. ; ; for these actions by a few.

Cheney's Golden Rule?= "Do unto yourself, what you are willing to do
to everyone else!?"

I see they're still not willing to stop kidnapping and 'interrogating' people who had nothing to do with 9/11 just to make it seem as if the threat is still out there.

How much longer can this go on for?

I like how the soften the title of the story by calling torture "Harsh Interrogations" . Wouldn't that be like ripping someone's hair out at the root and calling it an extreme haircut? Great Post, Starred and Flagged.

If impeachment letters are finally authorized by the Democratic pawns in congress against Cheney, would it be standard procedure to waterboard him for answers if he refused to divulge information? Or does executive privelage excuse one from waterboarding sessions?

I need to write my congressional representative about this.

I dearly hope that this story, along with the railroading "trials" with no arguments in Afghanistan, will FINALLY result in the impeachment of George Bush et al and possibly war crime charges. It is way beyond pathetic how willing the citizenry is to turn a blind eye to topics that don't directly effect their lifestyles. Wake up people, Fascism is here and it is only a matter of time before the CorpGov starts jacking your cushy lifestyles too.

Heck this became a Presidential Directive

The White House has skirted international and domestic law by deeming that prisoners in our POW camps are not prisoners of war but unlawful enemy combatants and as such do not fall under the Geneva convention common article 3.

By taking away the geneva convention rights to these prisoners we broke international and domestic law regardless of armed forces status of these prisoners.

Prisoners that were members of the Taliban or Al Quada are not concidered real enemy soldiers. Even though we have a lawfull congressionaly approved war naming these groups as the enemy.

I posted an explination of all of this in this defunct thread The Official White House View on Program of Detention and Interrogation

While it is disturbing that these interrogations can at a future date be used on the public.
And ignoring international law puts our own troops at risk.
Let's face it folks, our enemy does not have any morales.
Our troops are beheaded, tortured, and disfigured.
Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.
In other wars we have done far worse than what we are doing now.
The reason this war has lasted soooo... long is once again our troops hands have been tied.
The moral of this story is, if you go to war, be prepared to fight it with total conviction. Get it over with fast and brutally. War is not to be taken lightly.
If we had used the same brutality as Saddam from the beginning this war would already be over.
We seem to think when you go to war you need to act humanely.
There is NOTHING humane about war.
And to act so will just prolong the agony.

The most 'academically' interesting aspect of this report (surprising as the source may be) is that it fails to note that is set a legal precedent.

We must somehow 'compel' congress to 'demand' a judicial review of the authority to carryout international criminal activity 'on behalf' of the American people - without due process.

There is no debate on the definition of war crimes - we KNOW what they are - now we have representatives of the American people engaged in them - but they seem to have convinced those responsible for oversight NOT to pursue the fact that they have violated theirs oaths of office.

This isn't political, it moral. If we are to express American Representative Democracy as morally in tune with the American people - SOMEONE HAS TO BRING THIS CASE - wanna bet it wont be the Justice Department or the AG?

reply to post by TimeTracker


Hmmm lets see what if Iraq invaded the US, how would you call Iraqis killing innocent US civilians, raping them, using chemical weapons on them? I am sorry you are not an Iraqis who lost their loved one . I hope one day something like this might happen to you so you will understand the meaning of dirty war. You are calling for dirty war? What should Iraqis do to the US? I would love to know it. Incredible after so many years what brainwashed people call war and what they call terrorism...

reply to post by TimeTracker


Nope don't get me wrong I do agree with you about what happens durring war. Bad things happen durring war that the people that perpetrate these things often regret, yet they do happen.

But a government condoning torture to prisoners of war? a government that is supposedly for the people and by the people? These elected officials get to say that the American people are so rightly blind as to not see the attrocities this governent has done to not only thier own POW's but to the brave men and women that serve the armed forces?

Remember support the troops not the war.

I think the OP is forgetting that Cheney and Rice are trying their best to keep America safe.

Seriously, the fact that these is no outrage, is outrageous.

I think they are actually DARING someone to charge them with something ...


(where's my taser?...)

Torture is illegal in the land I grew up to love. One of the many reasons I love my country is that at one time in the not so distant past we stood for something better.

Did you know that the British tortured and killed our troops in the Revolutionary war yet Geo Washington issued a directive that British troop captives never be mistreated. The penalty for mistreating British troops was severe. That is the nation I love and will defend.

These are WAR CRIMES and completely unconstitutional and why the american press is not shouting from the highest mountain top is a disgrace to our nation.

These criminals should be impeached charged and convicted for violating the law. It is THAT simple.

Far more people die in auto accidents each year than died on 9/11.

Should we sacrifice our rights, violate treaties, endorse "preemptive war" (AKA attacking sovereign nations that have done NOTHING to threaten our country!!) for these fear mongering thugs???? Endorse torture?????? Have we sunk that low?? Disgusting and shameful....a complete and total disgrace.

They'll never even be charged for their criminal acts, let alone stand trial. One thing the Bush administration has done well, is to manipulate the laws and legal processes so that their asses are always covered. The most that could come out of this latest revelation is that the AG gave them bad advice. So what..? Fire the AG..? Already done. [big poop eating grin for the cameras]

It's a shame we don't enjoy the benefit of having someone, who is detached from partisan control, and is sworn to protect and defend the constitution ...

Oh wait..., never mind.

Can anyone here PLEASE explain their understanding of how to bring a charge (of any kind) against a rogue administration and its cabinet?

Can you envision how this 'justice' might be made a reality?

No legislative body, no judicial body will DARE challenge this junta
No partisan organization will make a single accusation which would oblige legal action
Intelligence and Regulatory leadership is a subset of the cronie-base
Justice Department has been castrated and replaced with ... you guessed it - more cronies
Law Enforcement is impotent to do anything other than oppress people.
The press is gone - dead - we should start spreading the word so we can arrange a wake or something, all that's left is a gigantic well-funded marketing arm (manned by pin-head egotists who are so enamored of their own imagery that they actually 'believe' they rate to be called 'the press')

The only way to actually - expediently - begin the process of legal prosecution is to have it imposed from an external agency - which according to the 'Big Handbook of Junta Fun' (subtitled - How I learned to love injustice) - would be an act of war.

The Democratic/Republican machine along with the Corporate Interests (and their media cancer) that keep them alive and well have successfully sh*t the bed, destroyed the framework of the great democratic experiment and are now proceeding to find a way to 'blame somebody else'.

Let's hear it for the good guys!

Good, I'm extremely pleased with their actions (not joking).

I’m fully aware that the line that no one else dare cross has just been breached, but in all fairness think of the kind of people that this would be used on: Blood thirsty, crazed, psychopathic terrorists. They kill American soldiers and Middle Eastern civilians every day, and would want nothing more than to do the same to Americans living in the United States if they had the chance. Now of course coercive interrogation would not be the first option, as many terrorists will cooperate before it is needed, but for those who are presumed to be withholding valuable information that if known could prevent future attacks, it is completely justified and necessary. Waterboarding does not harm the person that it is being used on, but rather simulates a scenario of drowning which in turn induces a state of panic. The individual is usually quick to give information after being subjected to only a short time of being waterboarded, many times in even as little as 30 seconds.

The government should not be barred from being able to use this extremely effective coercive technique and others of its nature. Coercive interrogative techniques should also not be classified as torture, since they do not physically harm the individual. In fact, hundreds of military soldiers are waterboarded every year at military SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) schools and, believe it or not, they survive. If the United States can safely simulate waterboarding on its own soldiers, then it seems not at all logical that it cannot be used on the most threatening and dangerous terrorists. As long as the United States stays within the bounds of merciful treatment, such as being sure not to induce hypothermia, then I believe that the government should be allowed to waterboard and practice other similar coercive techniques that do not cause physical harm. This technique is very efficient in obtaining the correct information. The individual being interrogated knows that if they give up truthful information then the interrogation will end, and well trained interrogators are trained effectively to distinguish the right information from the wrong information.

You mean like Khalid Sheik Mahommed admitting to plans against buildings that hadn't even been built yet?

Waterboarding is torture as defined by International Courts and countries that have used it have been prosecuted in the past.