Burrr
Submitted by heuer on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 5:03pm
Our senior senator came to Fearrington Village today to speak to Chatham County Republicans. He spoke about the disastrous deficits, without a word about wars. He took questions submitted in writing, but not mine. So I sent him my questions, and I'll be interested to see if he responds.
Senator Burr,
You joined 8 Republican senators in a letter to AG Eric Holder opposing the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate coercive interrogation of detainees in US custody by US service members, agents and contractors.
On what moral or legal grounds could you possibly object to mistreatment of US servicemen and women detained by foreign agents?
2nd question:
Do you support the repeal of the constitutional amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, US anti-torture legislation, and US ratified treaties prohibiting cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment of detainees?
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Don't hold your breath waiting
Hypocrisy is Dick's middle name. Otherwise, we wouldn't have to be circulating our petition.
Where should the line be drawn?
I stand before you today suggesting that there could be a place for some of the interrogation techniques (such as waterboarding) that would be not only useful but justified in some cases. I know that when my son was in the Gulf War, I would never have been against some of these techniques that would have saved my son. I wouldn't have been against them to save other American sons and daughters of those that worried about their children involved in a war that was questionable, at best. I don't care about the politics in this and I don't care about the radicals that believe that pacification is the answer to every international incident. I care about our children, our soldiers, our most faithful.
I know the arguments against this. I also know what is in my heart and gut. I wonder what the majority of our U.S. citizens really feel about this.
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“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance" __ Robert Quillen
A lot of US citizens FEEL the same way apparently
but that's exactly the reason that cooler heads make laws.
Do you know the arguments really?
Torture doesn't yield reliable intel, especially waterboarding since an addled brain in the midst of drowning is useless. It hurts our moral standing in the world. It cheapens the lives of our own soldiers. It opens the door to ungodly acts. I don't even want the people who use those techniques back in my country. They can't turn that kind of brutality off at will. How would any of that make your son safer?
I am horrified that most people in this country don't get it.
Progressives are the true conservatives.
If a majority of our US citizens were to be in favor of slavery
because it would be good for the economy and in the national interest, would that make it justifiable.
If you care about soldiers, you'd do well to care that the country they're fighting for had a moral anchor worthy of their lives.
Torture Works
...not to make anyone safer, only to brutalize the subject of abuse, the abuser, and any society that condones its use.
Torture is only effective at producing false confessions, and to propel categories of fellow humans into sub human species, to justify their extermination and expropriate their resources.
John Heuer
This is a touchy subject
I hear both sides of this very complex subject just about every day. If I don't hear it on some radio talk show, I hear it on one of the news networks or cable news channels. These venues usually have experts on both sides some of which say torture has had its place and has worked and others that say pretty much what everyone here on this blog is saying and that it not only doesn't work but is wrong as well. I even hear it from my friends when politics raises its ugly head in our conversations also. And, just about every time we friends discuss torture, a consesus seems to be evident that there might be a use for it but there must be a line drawn on it. Kind of like waterboarding would be acceptable but pulling out teeth or fingernails or cutting off fingers would be excessive. James served in the navy so he probably knows more about this than we do. I just wanted to put my two cents here to see how folks at Blue NC felt.
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“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance" __ Robert Quillen
Whether it "works" or not
is not really the question, and to make it the question is to miss the point and misdirect the debate. The ends don't justify the means. Lying "works," but is it right? As James notes, slavery "works" for the economy, but is it right? Cheating "works," but is it right? Cruelty "works," but is it right?
Cheney
argues that these techniques 'worked' and that they saved lives. The FBI disagrees and says that they got the info using conventional means.
The question for Cheney is, if he really believes that these techniques are effective in getting people to talk, then why not use torture on the bad guys (criminals) we catch here. Train the police. I mean we already know the bad guys are guilty, so why bother with all those expensive court proceedings? Make them talk and tell us what we need to know.
There cannot fail to be more kinds of things, as nature grows further disclosed. - Sir Francis Bacon
It's pretty sad that this country now measures the words of...
Cheney, an expert at avoiding(five exemptions) doing any service time during the Vietnam era, but now is an 'expert' on the torture techiques. I do remember when I was proudly told that we were in the forefront or laying out the Geneva Convention rules(USN-1960), which made us different from all the scumbags of the world. Now, without telling all the other signees of that treaty, we don't think it was a good idea! Sure looks like a country that has lost any pride it had.