Interrogations: New tactics, old abuses

Nobody is above the law, not even the Bush&Cheney fringe. Round them up, if they are guilty of violating our laws. It is that simple. We are nation of laws. Nixon payed the price for his transgressions, as Ronnie Raygun should have with his Arms-for-Hostage program, with Iran, but didn't. Thanks to a faulty memory, he got away with it. He truly was the Great Appeaser !! Unfortunately, history is repeating itself. We are now in the process of appeasing the corrupting Insurance Corporation, concerning our National Healthcare. They have violated our democratic processes and we are serving them up, another 50 years of bilking us, undermining our nation health and economy. Let's put those corrupting Corporations where they belong, out on their collective ear and take their Co-Ops with them !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

Sounds like Holder wants to convert America into a virtual banana republic where the new order goes after the former leaders. Such political activism in the Justice Department will serve only to deter competent people from government employment. What Mr. Holder needs to realize is that he might be on the receiving end when the Obama administration is history.

Obama need a diversion for his failures. Why not dig up torture again. If they are not careful, the CIA will open up a can of whoop *ss on Nancy Pelosi for lying about what she knew.

Interesting the "Don Fitzgerald, IL"s state that if laws were broken than people should be brought to justice and then the rest of his comment shows that he's already made up his mind....then does the usual Bush/Cheney/Reagen rant.

Many aren't interested in right or wrong...good or bad...they just have their panties ina knot for President Bush...

Just a one horse parade is all

I would ask. Why are TV shows like "24" so popular? Because as much as we wouldn't want to admit it. We WANT people like Jack Bauer to do what is necessary to protect us. It may only be a TV show, but I'd bet some interrogations have been way outside the "Army Field Manual" and we are safer because of them. I'm no Bush kool-aid drinker nor Obama either for that matter, but I am glad that there are parts of the military and intelligence community that understand that in war, and yes, we and our lifestyle are at war, the enemy we are fighting will try to win at all costs. Those that would undermine our way of life don't care about any rules, written or unwritten. Dont think for a second, that every major country in the world doesn't and wouldn't do the same things we are "accused" od doing!

This BS has Rahm emmanuals "dirty of the GOP at all costs" finger prints all over it. Put it to bed. Let barry allow the ACLU lawyers to dictate the kids gloves we gentily hold terrorist suspects with. can not wait for their next bus to be YOURS! Then it will be" why didn't uncle sam protect us and do more"... well the guy we had knew but and we asked nicely but he would not tell us the terror plot... LAUGHABLE JOKE!
Liberal elistest nannny staters want it both ways. Fools

What is needed is uniformity of the rules of interrogation that can carried over from one adminstration to the next, without individual interpretation. Secondly, there should be NO publicizing of the methods by which America extracts information from detainees and/or terrorism suspects so that others don't know what to expect (which increases their potential effectiveness). Lastly, "torture" should be construed as any means to extract information which doesn't result in immediate or subsequent death, lasting temporary or physical damage/multilation, and always in the presence of a physician (whenever another country is involved, the rules should be allowed some flexibility). Everyone can't be satisfied, so its best to walk the road of pragmatism.

This is garbage. The American Intelligence services have an awesome responsibility to protect the United States. American soldiers, marines, learn first-hand when they first arrive at boot camp why our nations perseveres. No sympathy for enemies of our state.

Stan...You post hits hit on the head! Do me one favor, change the name from Bush to Obama and then tell me if your opinion changes!!

Practically every major police force in America has been subject to charges of abusive interrogations. We collectively sweep those notions under the carpet. Cannot we do the same on a national level, considering that most of the targets are not citizens?

It's a shame the neither Los Angeles or San Francisco were not the target(s) on September 11, 2001. Things would be so different now. So with that said, let the liberal whining begin!

Posted by: RobP | August 24, 2009 9:47 AM

So you approve of war crimes then? Did you approve when thee North Vietnamese tortured downed american flyers to try to get information to protect thier citizens from our bombing? How about if the cops decide to beat the crap out of you if they suspect you of a crime, how does that sound tough guy?

The right in this country truly are barbarians. They don't believe in civilisation or the law. They believe only in force, only that might makes right. Torture, bombing civilians, that stuff doesn't bother them in the slightest. I bet they've become so maorally degraded that even genoicide would be accpetavle to their brutish minds. As long as they see Jack wipe out any entire country on 24 first, they'll be just fine with killingf millions of civilians if they think it protects their cowardly, bankrupt, barbaric lives.

Silly Stan, typical Republican/Libertarian response, name calling, distort, and of course, lie. Apparently, you have already unbunched your panties !! Way to go, Silly Stan, your intelligence is showing !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

When Holder re-opens the Black Panthers voter intimidation case in Philly, he'll regain some credibility. Until then, he and Justice will be viewed as just another political arm of the administration.

Here we go again, we are regressing this is the same attitude that the Clinton administration had. They wanted to look at the terrorists as a
domestic crime. Are they stupid or what?. These are war criminals and in no way should they treated under the same system as U.S. citizens. If Clinton had not been the wimp he is we would not be in the present situation, And to go after the men in the CIA, FBI, and our Armed Servicemen, is just SHAMEFUL.

Don Fitzgerald, IL - He does not like any former President - he is an Obama drone. Get a life.

So, Obama has set up an elite team of interrogators to question terror suspects. Will they bake cookies for the terrorists? Will they help the terrorists understand the root causes of their feelings?

Or will they... (gasp)... make them uncomfortable to get information?

Wait a minute... make them uncomfortable? Torture! War Crimes! Human rights! Liberals should be incensed!

But no such outcry from the hypocritical left... it's different when Obama does it. I mean, he'll interrogate... but he'll be NICE about it! Right?

We collectively sweep those notions under the carpet. Cannot we do the same on a national level, considering that most of the targets are not citizens?

Posted by: Dace MacWallerister | August 24, 2009 10:37 AM

Heck No! We shouldn't weep it under the carpet! We should be proud to say that the United States uses torture. For far too long the US has let other nations take the lead in the use of torture. For far too long we let the wimpy fools like Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt keep us from the use of that most noble institution, the torture chamber. We should be known as the best tortueres in the world. Why not be proud of the fact that we can abuse captives with the best of them? If torture is such a good thing, why pretend we don't do it? We shgould amend the Constitution to ban any ban on the use of torture. We should create a cabinet level Department to promote the use of torture. I'm sure many people posting here in this thread would support that whole heartedly. We must be a shinging beacon on a hill, showing the world the benefiots and beauty of torture.

Funny, the FBI has one of the most effective interrogation programs, and they manage to do it without torture (and without baking cookies either). And there are uniform standards & rules for interrogations, they're called the Army Field Manuel and the Geneva Convention. The Bush administration re-wrote them.

But hey, laws are just for little people (oh yeah, that would be us).

So, what's the murder - death - kill count in Afghanistan and Pakistan today Don?

President Obama isn't listening to your daily rants about bringing the troops home now is he. No Don, president Obama lied to you and the rest of the sheeple to get elected.

You like being lied to don't you Don. No matter what, you still back this politician-liar without feeling any shame. I really pitty you Don for the fool you are.

Beyond the "Don" factor, president Obama had stated previously that there would be no prosecution of US CIA or Military personel for interrogation techniques used in the previous administration.

Oop's, another lie there big Don! Yeah, bring them home NOW!

We are a nation of laws...unless we get caught.

Just once, I'd love to see a response that isn't a knee-jerk reaction against the "other" political party.

I would like to think that those on the right would be happy to see that Obama is validating the usefulness of interrogation by establishing a special team to focus on just this area - and that those on the left would be happy to see that he is establishing ground rules under which these interrogations can take place.

It appears to me that nothing productive can ever be accomplished if an idea or action being proposed is simply rejected based on the source of that idea or action. In other words, any utterance from the lips of Obama (or any other Democrat, for that matter) is automatically rejected simply because it's coming from Obama.

I remember a time when civil debate could actually take place in this country. Good ideas could come from either Republicans or Democrats.

Good public policy has no party affiliation.

Prosecution of any of our intelligence community for obtaining information under what was legal at the time, will have a profoundly chilling effect on our ability to obtain information. This will work against us in the long run, and I hope everyone remembers this the next time the US is attacked.

The bad guys don't care, they don't respond to "please". I want someone willing to get their hands dirty to be effective without fear of being prosecuted after the next election.

I heard that the new interrogation technique has something to do with being forced to listen to Rev. Wright sermons and Obama stump speechs for 23 hour a day.

The bad guys don't care, they don't respond to "please". I want someone willing to get their hands dirty to be effective without fear of being prosecuted after the next election.

Posted by: joe | August 24, 2009 1:45 PM

Thanks for your support joe, we sure appreciate it.

Oh by the way, you'll be happy to hear about one of out recent successes. We heard that your son may have known something about a terrorist attack, so we broohght him in. We sure got our hands dirty with him, joe. Because of the support of great americans like you we held nothing back because we knew we would never be prosecuted for it. He squeeled like a baby. We can send you the tape if you'd like to watch. I'm sure you'd enjoy watching your kid getting the once over that we have perfected with your support. Of course in the end, he confessed to everything. We were kind of surprised that he said he was responsible for the Lindberg baby kidnapping and the Kennedy Assassination when we asked, with him being so young and all, but we once put the gun to his head in the mock execution, he said he was guilty of it all. Thanks again joe, for helping us keep the world safe for torture as our founders always intended

Before you judge how the Bush Administration dealt with TERRORISTS (including interrogations), consider that this is virgin territory that NO other President ever had to deal with....and it is HIS job to protect the citizens of the U.S.

One win and one loss for Obama regarding the CIA. How can he do the right thing on one issue and be so wrong on another. there is a related post at http://iamsoannoyed.com/?page_id=588

We are a nation of laws...unless we get caught.

Posted by: bill r. | August 24, 2009 1:09 PM

Or unless we need to bypass them in order to take control of a car company, or a bank, or your health care insurance...

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Posted by: Julio | August 24, 2009 10:38 AM
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The terrorists didn't hit anything in Los Angeles or San Francisco because there was nothing of any financial, tactical or even symbolic value for them to destroy in either location. Besides, what could terrorists do in either city for which the locals wouldn't make excuses? Things would have been different only because the blame would have immediately been focused on our foreign policy for inciting those poor terrorists - rather than on the terrorists themselves.

Or unless we need to bypass them in order to take control of a car company, or a bank, or your health care insurance...

Posted by: heartburn | August 24, 2009 6:21 PM

Yeah, we really should prosecute Bush and Paulson for those crimes too! Their criminal use of the TARP and their criminal bailout of the auto companies should be fully investigated. I wonder how much those two guys got paid off by the big corporations for those programs. I think we need to investigate.

Thanks heartburn for reminding us of those other Republican crimes!

Posted by: Julio | August 24, 2009 10:38 AM

Posted by: John W. | August 24, 2009 9:01 PM

Oh please. What utter nonsense fro\m the brain dead, hate filled right. I honestly believe they hate their fellow americans more that they even hate Bin Ladin. If their fellow citizens dare say that TORTURE shouldn't be allowed, they start wishing for their fellow citizens to be killed by terrorist, or imply that their fellow citizens would excuse terrorism. The right is now so dedicated to the use of torture that they cannot accept any oppostion to it's use. Soon they will be morally indistiguishable from those they claim to hate. All of their years of correctly complaining about the abuses of totalitarian regimes like the Soviet Union, now they want to adopt the worst practices of the KGB. I'm sure John W and Julio will hope that I'm killed by a terrorist for posting this, or will say that I am an apologist for terrorists, but that reflects ontly on the darkness within their own hate filled hearts.