B-HO is a joke. I wish. On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 5:45 AM, Cold Water <[email protected]> wrote:
> * > What A Joke! <http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/01/022571.php> > January > 16, 2009 Posted by John at 7:25 PM > > Barack Obama preens, and garners this sort of headline: "Sources: Obama > ready to ban harsh > interrogations"<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090116/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_interrogations> > : > > President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of > waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA > to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. > officials familiar with drafts of the plans. > > Of course, there is one very big catch: > > However, Obama's changes may not be absolute. His advisers are considering > adding a classified loophole to the rules that could allow the CIA to use > some interrogation methods not specifically authorized by the Pentagon, the > officials said. ... > > For Obama, who repeatedly insisted during the 2008 presidential campaign > and the transition period that "America doesn't torture," a classified > loophole would allow him to follow through on his promise to end harsh > interrogations while retaining a full range of presidential options in > conducting the war against terrorism. > > The proposed loophole, which could come in the form of a classified annex > to the manual, is designed to satisfy intelligence experts who fear that an > outright ban of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques would limit the > government in obtaining threat information that could save American lives. > It would also preserve Obama's flexibility to authorize any interrogation > tactics he might deem necessary for national security. > > Now, that's "change you can believe in!" Obama's hypocrisy on this issue is > identical to John McCain's. McCain denounced the Bush administration for > "torturing" detainees. I disagree. I don't think waterboarding is torture; > on the contrary, I think it is the ideal way to interrogate terrorists > because it is quick and effective and because it does not actually harm > them. I see it as a humane alternative to much worse techniques. But that's > not the point, at the moment. > > When McCain was asked what he would do in the "ticking time bomb" > situation, where we have in our custody a terrorist with knowledge of plots > in progress that may kill Americans, his response was that in that case, he > would expect the President to do whatever was necessary. That is exactly the > position Obama is now taking: we won't torture detainees. Unless, of course, > we need to! > > All of this might make some kind of sense if you assume that the Bush > administration had a nasty habit of hauling terrorists (or Democrats, maybe) > off the street for no particular reason, and waterboarding them. In fact, > though, a total of three top-ranking al Qaeda terrorists were waterboarded, > in the period shortly after September 11 when there was good reason to > believe that they had knowledge of plots that were still active. This was > exactly the "ticking time bomb" scenario where McCain has explicitly > admitted, and Obama now implicitly agrees, "torture," or harsh interrogation > tactics anyway, may be necessary. > > In short, Obama's posturing is meaningless and politically motivated. His > policy will not be any different from President Bush's; he is just trying to > score cheap political points. Obama is no dummy, and is acutely aware of the > Bush administration's extraordinary record of keeping us safe from terrorist > attacks over the last seven years. He knows that his approval rating will > sink like a stone if he exposes Americans to mass murder because of a > foolish consideration for the comfort of terrorists. If and when the time > comes, he will act exactly as George Bush did. > > http://www.powerlineblog.com > > > * > > > > -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
