Aaarrgh Tequila! You got the jump on my next Blog entry!Originally Posted by tequila
Aaarrgh Tequila! You got the jump on my next Blog entry!
Putting Foot to Al Qaeda Ass Since 1993
Waterboarding is Torture… Period
SWJ Blog - Waterboarding is Torture… Period by Malcolm Nance.
Much more at the link...I’d like to digress from my usual analysis of insurgent strategy and tactics to speak out on an issue of grave importance to Small Wars Journal readers. We, as a nation, are having a crisis of honor.
Last week the Attorney General nominee Judge Michael Mukasey refused to define waterboarding terror suspects as torture. On the same day MSNBC television pundit and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough quickly spoke out in its favor. On his morning television broadcast, he asserted, without any basis in fact, that the efficacy of the waterboard a viable tool to be sued on Al Qaeda suspects.
Scarborough said, "For those who don't know, waterboarding is what we did to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is the Al Qaeda number two guy that planned 9/11. And he talked …" He then speculated that “If you ask Americans whether they think it's okay for us to waterboard in a controlled environment … 90% of Americans will say 'yes.'” Sensing that what he was saying sounded extreme, he then claimed he did not support torture but that waterboarding was debatable as a technique: "You know, that's the debate. Is waterboarding torture? … I don't want the United States to engage in the type of torture that [Senator] John McCain had to endure."
In fact, waterboarding is just the type of torture then Lt. Commander John McCain had to endure at the hands of the North Vietnamese. As a former Master Instructor and Chief of Training at the US Navy Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School (SERE) in San Diego, California I know the waterboard personally and intimately. SERE staff were required undergo the waterboard at its fullest. I was no exception. I have personally led, witnessed and supervised waterboarding of hundreds of people. It has been reported that both the Army and Navy SERE school’s interrogation manuals were used to form the interrogation techniques used by the US army and the CIA for its terror suspects. What was not mentioned in most articles was that SERE was designed to show how an evil totalitarian, enemy would use torture at the slightest whim. If this is the case, then waterboarding is unquestionably being used as torture technique...
Excellent, excellent piece.
On High Moral Ground
~from Malcolm Nance: 10/29/07:
"I’d like to digress from my usual analysis of insurgent strategy and tactics to speak out on an issue of grave importance to Small Wars Journal readers. We, as a nation, are having a crisis of honor."
He goes on to say:
"A torture victim can be made to say anything by an evil nation that does not abide by humanity, morality, treaties or rule of law. Today we are on the verge of becoming that nation. "
In the course of the essay he states:
"Are we willing to trade our nation’s soul for tactical intelligence?"
"Waterboarding will be one our future enemy’s go-to techniques because we took the gloves off to brutal interrogation. Now our enemies will take the gloves off and thank us for it."
In describing enhanced interrogation, he comments:
"One has to overcome basic human decency to endure watching or causing the effects. The brutality would force you into a personal moral dilemma between humanity and hatred. It would leave you to question the meaning of what it is to be an American."
I think the full spectrum of American society needs to be addressed to get us all back on the path of righteous living. In particular, the message needs to get out to this strata of Americans - tell 'em hope floats, help is just around the corner and the full brunt of Public outrage is soon to be unleashed:
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/...05/summary.htm
During FFY 2005, an estimated 899,000 children in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect.
http://www.rainn.org/statistics/
Key Facts
• Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.
• One in six American women are victims of sexual assault, and one in 33 men.
• In 2004-2005, there were an average annual 200,780 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
• About 44% of rape victims are under age 18, and 80% are under age 30.
I would say the crisis of honor was unfolding some time ago and we were in a waterboard frame of mind long before Mr. Nance hit the print. The 1.2 million victims of domestic torture listed above were already questioning what it means to be an American while Mr. Nance was editing his essay. The selected audience of this forum is ultimately a product of the collective from which they emerge and until the collective is convinced that war is other than death, brutality and pain, this issue is not going away nor will it be resolved.
Good post, Goesh...
(emphasis added / kw)
Unfortunately true. War ain't pretty and isn't going to be...
Despite the ugly statistics quoted above, the fact remains that the vast majority of Americans are personally unacquainted with any form of violence approximating either torture or combat.
Thus the closest most will ever get to the real-life issue is through watching TV or movies. Needless to say most people involved in such productions also have little experience of either war or torture, and depictions of the same are often ridiculously sanitized or presented in the form most palatable for dramatic effect, titillation, and entertainment. Thus the constant reaching for Hollywood creations like Jack Bauer by many pro-torture advocates. This sort of justification by pop culture is perhaps the most outstanding sign of our national cultural decline in the face of terrorism.
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