Limbaugh's Proof That Torture Works: McCain Was 'Broken By The North Vietnamese'

[Hissyspit]

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/18/limbaugh-mccain-torture

Limbaugh’s Proof That Torture Works: McCain Was ‘Broken By The North Vietnamese’

On his radio show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh responded to the Obama administration’s release of four of the OLC torture memos with a full-throated defense of of torture and its effectiveness for gathering useful intelligence. As evidence of the effectiveness of torture, Limbaugh noted that — in his speech to the Republican National Convention last summer — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said the North Vietnamese “broke” him while he was a POW. Limbaugh suggested that in saying the North Vietnamese “broke” him, McCain was saying that torture worked:

LIMBAUGH: The idea that torture doesn’t work– that’s been put out from John McCain on down– You know, for the longest time McCain said torture doesn’t work then he admitted in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last summer that he was broken by North Vietnamese. So what are we to think here?

Watch it:

VIDEO AT LINK

This is not the first time Limbaugh has claimed that McCain’s remarks about his experience with torture proves its effectiveness. But just like the last time, Limbaugh is wrong.

With regard to his speech to the RNC, McCain explained that after refusing an offer of early release, North Vietnamese soldiers “worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.” While McCain did not go in to detail during his speech, he explained in his memoir Faith of my Fathers that the information he gave the Vietnamese after being “broken” was out of date, fabricated, or of little use to his captors:

Eventually, I gave them my ship’s name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant. Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron. When asked to identify future targets, I simply recited the names of a number of North Vietnamese cities that had already been bombed.

Elsewhere in his memoir, McCain recalled providing false information to his captors on multiple occasions in order to “suspend the abuse.” Further, McCain explained in a 2005 Newsweek column that he believed torture would yield little actionable intelligence. “In my experience, abuse of prisoners often produces bad intelligence because under torture a person will say anything he thinks his captors want to hear — whether it is true or false — if he believes it will relieve his suffering,” McCain wrote.

McCain was right. As the Washington Post reported last month, the torture of Abu Zubaida — who was once thought to be a high-level AQI operative — did not foil “a single significant plot” ...

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[Xipe Totec]

1. Proof that Limbaugh is un-American nt

[Andy823]

2. I have an idea.

Rush should volunteer to be "tortured" so he can prove his point! Lest's see how long it takes him to admit things that are not true so those working him over will stop! Then, and only then should Rush talk about how torture works. And we might as well start with something easy like "water boarding"! :evilgrin:

[pacalo]

4. But first, he'd have to be dressed up like this...

Do you suppose McCain agrees that his torture was similar to fraternity hazing? :evilgrin:

[floridablue]

6. How many soldiers would it take to lift the board ?

[pacalo]

3. It proves to me that torture results in provoking wrong information.

If McCain gave his torturers the names of football players, how many names of village merchants, shepherds, taxi drivers, antagonistic friends & relatives, etc., were given up at Abu Gharib?

[krispos42]

5. "Works" is a flexible term

We're assuming that in this case what we want to "work" are methods at are useful at finding useful, timely intelligence information.



However what the North Vietnamese wanted, beside useful and timely intelligence, was public propoganda and whatever internal political maneuverings that might have been going on in the NV military/intelligence/political structure.

And probably some sheer pleasure to get some payback on the death-dealing American pilots.



So for the CIA, torture didn't "work". For the Bush Administration, it did, because it appealed to their political base, helped their political fortunes, and gave them a political club to beat their opponents with. The fact that it didn't generate useful intelligence doesn't mean that it didn't work for them.

[MrScorpio]

7. And Limbaugh wanted a broken man for President of the United States

These dumb ass Right Wing moments write themselves

[bemildred]

8. "Broken" is not the question, Windbag. nt

[pansypoo53219]

9. jabba pissed on

all the vietnam POWs who didn't say a damed thing.