Double HOLY SHIT:
1) Waterboarded 183 times...I know he was a 911 mastermind but..wow.. The reports also allowed them to be waterboarded for up to 20 minutes. That's roughly 61 hours of drowning...
2) Is John McCain actually making fucking sense!?!?

John McCain reminds me why I almost voted for him.

"Confessed Mastermind" + "Tortured 183 times" = Zero

>> ^vaporlock:
"Confessed Mastermind" + "Tortured 183 times" = Zero


"Tortured 183 times" => confess to anything
Anyone trying to maintain any kind of moral high ground whilst torturing amounts to => Zero

well well.

Interesting.

Did torture avoid another 9/11 attack?

Who knows. the CIA would probably say it did regardless to avoid having to state the torture was pointless.

More importantly - for every 1 attack stopped, it inspired 100's of Islamic fanatics to want to try.

>> ^raverman:
The CIA would probably say it did regardless to avoid having to state the torture was pointless.


My thoughts exactly.

Actually, the CIA would say it did, but won't release any documentation that corroborates that for national security reasons.

In a related subject, I think that's why Cheney asked for the memos that contained the intelligence gained from torture released; they'll have to decline that request because for reasons of national security.

Which Cheney and others can then say validates their position, and use the talking point of "Even the Obama administration is unwilling to declassify the memos of what was gained because it's too valuable to the CIA..."

Even if the memo is really staying classified for reasons not related to intelligence (faulty or otherwise) that resulted from torture, which I suspect would be the case, regardless.

Never mind that the entire premise of Cheney's case is invalid. Torture is illegal, and immoral, regardless of its utility.

Making the case that it's useful is just trying to get people who have no conscience to support an abhorrent practice that should never have been used, no matter the circumstances.

Glad to see that after the election the republicans were nice enough to give McCain his brain back. Lord knows it was kept safely out of use during the race.

Nah, he just got away from the f#cking morons running the campaign appealing to the fundie vote...

I disagreed with his policies but the guy is an ex-serviceman who did time in a POW camp. He may not have been a good pilot (from what I've read, he wasn't), but he did his duty anyway and he deserves respect for that.

If there's anyone people should be listening to, it's the people who have served and been captured and interrogated/tortured in the line of duty for their country.

Alternately, just waterboard Bush and Cheney for a bit and then see if their opinion of whether it's torture or not stands...

@Asmo:

I would pay to see that. Any politician who claims waterboarding is not torture should have it done to them and we'll see if they change their tune.

how's that cake taste McCain... i bet it tastes dry.