Torture '08: Leading Republicans All Support Water-Boarding

New York Times:

A central tenet of every leading Republican candidate's campaign for president is one simple and powerful idea: I alone can best defend the United States from the threat of terrorism.

And in recent weeks, three candidates, Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Fred D. Thompson, have embraced some of the more controversial policies on the treatment of those suspected of supporting terrorism, backing harsh interrogation methods and refusing to rule out the use of waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique, on detainees.

Their public statements came as the debate over whether waterboarding is torture had threatened to derail the nomination of Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general after he refused to call the technique illegal.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[GoodwithWood]

10:48 PM on 11/05/2007

The moral minority.

[realistic2008]

11:29 AM on 11/05/2007

Rick Sanchez of CNN recently demonstrated the effects of tasing and as he normally says let's take it one step further, about having all the TV anchors do a truly service for the American people; stage a debate on waterboarding and actually make them participate in one. In addition I would suggest obnoxious Mathews of CSNBC moderating the contest, following by interviews from Wolfy Blitzer; the best in the business is his humble opinion that is...

[prscnt1]

05:18 AM on 11/05/2007

Let us have a new Holy Day! The Torture Day! Where we line up all the presidents, vice presidents, their spouse, and their administrations and staffs (past and present)senators, congressmen, and their staffs, to waterboarding match.

The winner is the one who wows to never torture again!

[Waitaminute]

07:43 PM on 11/04/2007

Certain people in the u.s.a., think the country is too powerful and we Americans don't have to worry about the geneva convention. This arrogant superiority complex will doom this country.

Many of their suckers, will follow their fake cowboy swaggering asses to their deaths.

[PhillyQuaker]

04:38 PM on 11/04/2007

Maher Arar, Canadian Tortured in Syria
http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/arar-v.-ashcroft

[Mariel]

02:02 PM on 11/04/2007

McCain came out strongly against waterboarding in his Face the Nation interview this Sunday morning. He is still in the running, in my opinion. He did well on Face the Nation.

But Wolf Blitzer, looking at predictions of the Iowa Straw Poll, didn't even seem to notice that Huckabee is #2 on that list. He is a front runner on that list. As far as I recall he is against torture (we don't get as much information on the so-called second tier as we need). He is no longer second tier.

McCain/Huckabee a possibility.

[ChristinDemocrat]

10:51 AM on 11/04/2007

What do they support?

An Army outside our constitution. Black water

State owned Media Rupert Murdock

Republican controlled energy Exxon

Terrors support. They put a microphone in front of every terrorist mouth in the middle east.

They want you to know what every sheik thinks about everything. It made oil 96 dollars a barrel.

What do Republicans support there own Government outside the American Government. Supported by the apparatus of The American tax system.

Maybe that is why they only want private schools so only the Communist Republican Party children will be the only ones educated.

Think about it its true. Take the vail of deception off for 5 minutes.

I see what Dick Cheney meant"We'll be back.You think you have seen power you will see power next time." He's got his own army that may be 1 million by then and just think you paid for it.

[Ramirez]

10:26 AM on 11/04/2007

Everyone needs to take a breath.

From ABC News:

"For all the debate over waterboarding, it has been used on only three al Qaeda figures, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials.

As ABC News first reported in September, waterboarding has not been used since 2003 and has been specifically prohibited since Gen. Michael Hayden took over as CIA director.

Officials told ABC News on Sept. 14 that the controversial interrogation technique, in which a suspect has water poured over his mouth and nose to stimulate a drowning reflex as shown in the above demonstration, had been banned by the CIA director at the recommendation of his deputy, Steve Kappes.

Hayden sought and received approval from the White House to remove waterboarding from the list of approved interrogation techniques first authorized by a presidential finding in 2002."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/exclusive-only-.html

[leftLibertarian]

07:14 AM on 11/04/2007

Ron Paul for President.

[VOTER]

06:29 AM on 11/04/2007

Military families are furious by the irresponsible

statements being made by the White House and

the Republican candidates. TORTURE IS OKAY!

Their loved ones serving in the military, if captured, are

doomed to suffer the torture methods being

praised by the GOP.

WHY DO REPUBLICANS HATE OUR SOLDIERS AND CONTINUE TO PUT THEM AT RISK?

WHY DON'T REPUBLICANS HONOR THE GENEVA CONVENTION?

WHY DON'T REPUBLICANS HONOR THE CONSITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES?

[VivaZapata]

06:00 AM on 11/04/2007

Ron Paul

[SDgirl]

01:17 AM on 11/04/2007

I think they should all line up, assume the position and put their money where their supposable conviction is. Others have tried it and said it felt like torture to them. These gasbags should try to have the balls to experience it themselves and then tell us it's not torture, course we get to watch on camera as they beg for it to stop.

[rivrgrrl]

12:06 AM on 11/04/2007

Republican leaders love to torture.....and this is breaking news how? A bigger headline would be, Republican candidates reject torture.

[philipwitak]

10:15 PM on 11/03/2007

fine - if thats the way they feel, lets waterboard every last one of 'em and see if they would like to change their minds.

[zephyrus]

10:08 PM on 11/03/2007

How much hate must exist in someone's heart to even consider "water boarding" another human?

Yes, the U.S. was attacked on 9/11. But we've let the need for justice be replaced with a need for vengeance. An eye-for-an-eye will leave us all blind....

If we are to make comparisons of this point in time to early wars of the twentieth century, then fellow Americans, consider how those wars were fought and how they were ultimately won. All wars have horrors, but to suggest that we should abandon our humanity in the struggle means that we will lose twice. Our politicos have no honor and must be coerced into accepting our will to make this a fight for justice and not one of blind hatred pursuing vengeance.

What have we become that this thought of torture is even remotely acceptable?

The slope is slippery indeed....