Tortured logic

[jhain]

Give him some feedback, Folks:

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2008/02/21/72165689


February 21, 2008

Tortured logic
The U.S. has been lumped with countries suspected of torture, yet Bush proclaims we do not torture.
By John Sharkey

so, we torture people.

We've reached new heights of absurdity over the last few years. There are plenty of issues to debate in this country, but there's one thing we should all be able to say with confidence: that torture is wrong, and we don't do it. The fact that we have lost the ability to say even that will stand as the most depressing national memory of the Bush administration (and that is saying something). Even worse, we have not, yet, reached the point where that torture is "just" a memory.

Waterboarding - controlled drowning - has become the symbol of our new doctrine of torture, so it's worth the time to consider the meaning of the term. We tie the prisoner down, cover their face with some kind of cloth or bag, and pour water over their head. Some have referred to waterboarding as "simulated drowning," which The Washington Post points out is incorrect: Evan Wallach, a former JAG in the Nevada National Guard, calls waterboarding "real drowning that simulates death." After World War II, we tried and convicted Japanese officers of war crimes for employing the technique against Americans. A few weeks ago, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed the obvious - waterboarding is torture. Our attorney general and director of national intelligence have both called waterboarding torture.

Michael Hayden, the director of the CIA, recently admitted before a congressional committee that we did, in fact, waterboard three prisoners. He tried to reassure the committee, saying that we hadn't used the technique in the last five years. Funny how three years ago we listened to our president assure everyone that "we do not torture." Perhaps he missed that memo too.


more here:

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2008/02/21/72165689

[Ronnie Roach]

1. This is a typical Leo Strauss rationale.

Neo-Cons are mostly college nerds who use sophistic arguments to jusified their misdeeds.

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/1889435/6227965