McCain: Torture did not lead to bin Laden death

[democracy1st]

WASHINGTON – Waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques were not a factor in tracking down Osama bin Laden, a leading Republican senator insisted Thursday.

Sen. John McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, also rejected the argument that any form of torture is critical to U.S. success in the fight against terrorism.

In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, the Arizona Republican said former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and others who back those tactics were wrong to claim that waterboarding al-Qaida's No. 3 leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, provided information that led to bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

McCain spoke with an unrivaled record on the issue.

He's the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee who consistently challenged the Bush administration and Vice President Dick Cheney on the use of torture and a man who endured brutal treatment during the Vietnam War.

He also made many of his points in an opinion piece in The Washington Post.

McCain said he asked CIA Director Leon Panetta for the facts, and that the hunt for bin Laden did not begin with fresh information from Mohammed. In fact, the name of bin Laden's courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, came from a detainee held in another country.

"Not only did the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed not provide us with key leads on bin Laden's courier, Abu Ahmed, it actually produced false and misleading information," McCain said. He called on Mukasey and others to correct their misstatements.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110512/ap_on_re_us/us_bin_laden_torture

[uppityperson]

1. Good for McCain for continuing to speak out against torture

[PeaceNikki]

2. Walnuts still has occasional moment of lucidity, huh?

[kentuck]

3. This story should be more widespread.

MOre people need to hear it.

[RickFromMN]

4. I think John McCain is a "good" person even though I believe his policy views are misguided.

I believe John Mccain has a tough road to hoe.
When he speaks from his heart and tries to tell the truth, Republicans boo.
Then he goes into campaign mode, betraying his integrity for Republican votes.

I still remember when he spoke in defence of Democratic nominee Obama.
The following is an old, 2008, youtube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c-Ijky95dc
In it, John McCain called Obama a decent person.

One should be able to admire an person of integrity while disagreeing strongly with their views.

Unfortunately, in our political climate, we are conditioned not to listen to the opposition.
We are conditioned to look for fault and evil purpose in anything the opposition wants or does.

John McCain had to sacrifice his integrity so his Republican base would listen to him.

Will the time ever come back when Democrats and Republicans can argue fiercely,
but at the end of the day, go out for a beer together.

When Hubert Humphrey knew he was going to die, he started inviting people to his upcoming funeral.
This may sound morbid, that that's what he did. One person he invited was Richard Nixon.
When I was young, "Tricky Dicky" was the mildest insult I could throw at Tricky Dicky Nixon.

Who gave the eulogy at Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral? It was Orrin Hatch....

Times have changed. I'm afraid times have changed for the worse.

[Faryn Balyncd]

5. nice analysis