The Tortured Party
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| Fri, 12-12-2008 - 11:15pm |
Now that he's got nothing to lose by dropping the pandering, McCain issued a joint report just that found that Rumsfeld was right in the middle of authorizing the torture:
"Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld Approves Aggressive Techniques (U)
(U) With respect to GTMO’s October 11, 2002 request to use aggressive interrogation
techniques, Mr. Haynes said that “there was a sense by the DoD Leadership that this decision
was taking too long” and that Secretary Rumsfeld told his senior advisors “I need a
recommendation.” On November 27, 2002, the Secretary got one. Notwithstanding the serious
legal concerns raised by the military services, Mr. Haynes sent a one page memo to the
Secretary, recommending that he approve all but three of the eighteen techniques in the GTMO
request. Techniques such as stress positions, removal of clothing, use of phobias (such as fear of
dogs), and deprivation of light and auditory stimuli were all recommended for approval.
(U) Mr. Haynes’s memo indicated that he had discussed the issue with Deputy Secretary
of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith, and General
Myers and that he believed they concurred in his recommendation. When asked what he relied
on to make his recommendation that the aggressive techniques be approved, the only written
legal opinion Mr. Haynes cited was Lieutenant Colonel Beaver’s legal analysis, which senior
military lawyers had considered “legally insufficient” and “woefully inadequate,” and which
LTC Beaver herself had expected would be supplemented with a review by persons with greater
experience than her own.
(U) On December 2, 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld signed Mr. Haynes’s recommendation,
adding a handwritten note that referred to limits proposed in the memo on the use of stress
positions: “I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?”
(U) SERE school techniques are designed to simulate abusive tactics used by our
enemies. There are fundamental differences between a SERE school exercise and a real world
interrogation. At SERE school, students are subject to an extensive medical and psychological
pre-screening prior to being subjected to physical and psychological pressures. The schools
impose strict limits on the frequency, duration, and/or intensity of certain techniques.
Psychologists are present throughout SERE training to intervene should the need arise and to
help students cope with associated stress. And SERE school is voluntary; students are even
given a special phrase they can use to immediately stop the techniques from being used against
them.
(U) Neither those differences, nor the serious legal concerns that had been registered,
stopped the Secretary of Defense from approving the use of the aggressive techniques against
detainees. Moreover, Secretary Rumsfeld authorized the techniques without apparently
providing any written guidance as to how they should be administered. "
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf
What a surprise! There will be a lot more on this. If we don't hold those who broke the law accountable, the rampant rate of lawbreaking in the Republican Party will not slow down in the slightest. It will also be a good message to Democrats not to make the same mistakes.

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>>> Then Jihad's must be good guys since they say they are.
I'm sure that they believe exactly that.
< Shut everything down...no more trade, no more aid, no more military support, nothing...then see what our "global approval rating" is.
>>> Yes, our incoming is such that we can dictate anything. LOL
Our "incoming?" What's that?
>>> Ummm, did you miss the NEWS?? We are in need of over 30,000 troops,so we don't even have the forces to support anyone effectively.
I hate to break it to you...skip that, I'm actually quite glad to break it to you...we have an estimated 1.4 million active military personnel and an additional 840K in reserve. We pretty much have the technology and the resources to do whatever we need to do whenever we need to do it. Take heart.
I'm sure that they believe exactly that.
There is no evidence of anyone on the left hating America, except in whatever universe you are living in. Stating the truth, does not equate hate. Saying so, is only laughable, and certainly doesn't make it so. Far from it. I pity the person who can't accept truth, in spite of evidence to the contrary. There isn't one word of hate in any of my posts. Perhaps you don't quite grasp the meaning of the word hate. Besides, it isn't your place to tell me how or what I feel, as you obviously don't have a clue.
Who's we? I think most posters here are well aware of the thousands of women and children we have killed in Iraq. Have you forgotten about the soldiers who killed a whole family because one of the men wanted the daughter? They stormed her house, killing her family, gang raped and murdered
>>> IF anyone said any such thing, they would feel pretty bad.
It's the position taken by many on the left. So far I haven't seen many liberals shed tears over it.
>>> However, I don't know of anyone right or left, who would be so callous as to say such a thing.
Again, since it's a well espoused position on the left, how do you think the explain themselves to our servicemen?
>>> Since you used quotation marks, please link us to wherever the quote came from. We're waiting,
You think that was an attributed quote? LOL!
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