Why Americans don't torture

2-17-2008
In the founding of this country, our commanding general in the revolution, George Washington,
was approached by his officers who asked for permission to torture British prisoners. The British used torture-to-the-death for both soldiers and civilians---even women. They were particularly gruesome in their treatment of prisoners and often piled on thousands into prison ships in New York harbor---almost no one survived being a prisoner. Washington decided that a country founded on freedom was better than its enemies and we would not torture. In fact, we would befriend the prisoners and give them the same food and drink that our own soldiers had. This made it easy for the Hessians to surrender at Trenton in 1776. Had they fought the British, who tortured, they would have had to fight to the death instead.

In all of our wars, this practice saved much bloodshed. Wars ended earlier.

In World War II, we were challenged again by the Japanese whose cultural practices could not understand or accept surrender. Yet, we did not torture and held those accountable who did torture through the International Courts. The Japanese used waterboarding against Americans. Many times Americans guess what their captors wanted to hear and they made up information to give them. So how effective is torture?

Nations around the world adopted our practices. To torture now, although convenient---would jeopardize our moral standing in the world. We broke the vicious Japanese and Germans with kindness at their trials. They realized a compassionate democracy was more powerful than any dictatorship or religion.

John McCain is a soldier at heart and incapable of viewing war as a citizen. He is really trying to re-fight the War in Vietnam and win it. A war that was un-winnable as it became a jungle guerrilla war. An un-winnable occupation as the Iraq War has become. McCain cannot let go of his past to accept the future. He cannot accept the fact that we have lost the war in Vietnam just as the Soviets lost the ten year war in Afghanistan (1979-1989). We have won the Iraq War and lost the occupation of Iraq. We lost it when the President and his Administration knowingly lied us into the war---the Iraq people know these facts whether or not the American People choose to believe it or not. We lost this occupation when the troop strength was reduced and when arms were not secured. We lost it when our contracts went only to Bush campaign contributors and huge cost overruns and $9 Billion dollars in missing cash on pallets went unaccounted for. McCain oversaw this and said nothing. This is what also happened in Vietnam so maybe he was use to it. The military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us against profited immensely while the nation borne the costs of lives and billions that the Vietnam War cost us.

WHM
Also found this: Post #65. Here we go again. I realize this is "just" a blog, but claiming McCain "voted to allow waterboarding by the CIA" is a bald-faced lie. He voted against the CIA authorization act, which, among other things, restricts the CIA to interrogation methods contained in Army Field Manual 2-22.3. (available at http://www.army.mil/institution/armypublicaffairs/pdf/fm2-22-3.pdf)

The 19 authorized techniques are:

1. Direct Approach
2. Incentive Approach
3 - 9. Emotional Approaches (Love, Hate, Fear-Up, Fear-Down, Pride- and Ego-Up, Pride- and Ego-Down, Futility)
10. We Know All Approach
11. File and Dossier Approach
12. Establish Your Identity
13. Repetition
14. Rapid-Fire
15. Silent
16. Change of Scenery
17. "Mutt and Jeff"
18. False Flag

... and, the harshest interrogation technique allowed by Army FM 2-22.3, so potentially heinous it requires COCOM authorization before it's used (drum roll, please) . . .

19. Separation

Kinda' gives you a warm fuzzy, don't it? It's nice to know that, even as terrorists are smuggling a nuke across our southern border, those entrusted with our security will be trying to talk them out of it by appealing to their better nature.

The fact is, waterboarding is already banned by the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (which McCain sponsored). So, why would Democrats include such restrictive language in the 2008 CIA authorization, language which they have to realize would cripple US intelligence operations against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups? Simply, because they know it will never become law and "useful idiots" in the media will play up the waterboarding angle to give them political leverage in an election year.

Disillusioned Voter at 3:41PM on Feb 16th 2008 to Cenk