Glenn Greenwald: Torture Supporters Are The Ones Politicizing The Debate

Salon.com:

The core assumption here -- shared by most establishment pundits -- is that the call for criminal investigations is nothing more than a partisan-driven desire to harm Republicans and Bush officials ("retribution"), and if they can show that some Democratic officials might be swept up in the inquiry, then, they assume, that will motivate investigation proponents to think twice.

Those who make that argument are clearly projecting. They view everything in partisan and political terms...

Read the whole story: Salon.com

Comments

[ablanco1]

Funny how if your a democratic president, you can be prosecuted for a few B***jobs (>40 million spent on that), while committing acts that warranted execution after WW2 can be ignored.

[Eyeheartfreedumb]

If Nancy Palosi ordered the torture of muslims in custody, I would want her on trial with the rest of the criminals. I have no allegiance to her, and she none to me (I've never even been to California, or Washington, D.C.- - hell, I'm not even a Democrat).
Still, the fact of the matter remains that when a police officer draws his weapon and discharges it there is accountability. The government deemed it necessary to pull out its (torture) weapon. The other part of this is that when the bullet from the police firearm gets lodged in a nearby child, there is an investigation into why this incident happened in the first place (true, investigations by police into themselves aren't always open and fair, but then neither is a US government investigation- - see 9/11 report).
I mean, does the media really think this is partisan? Come on, most Americans are realistic about outcomes here. Of course the rich lawyers and their bosses won't have to deal with the consequences of this, but by discovering where they went wrong we could learn how to keep it from happening again.

[BabblingBrooks]

Not phrased accurately.

The headline should be "those that WE CLAIM SUPPORTED TORTURE but who had a different definition of torture..." I know that would take more space, but it would be accurate...accuracy counts, doesn't it?

[pjburke]

Fail.

There is no such thing as a 'different definition of torture.' It is defined and encoded in law already. Only Congress can redefine it.

[Eyeheartfreedumb]

No, that's accurate. Those who support America's God given right to do whatever it feels like are the ones who are ignorantly turning this into a policy debate.
The American govenment tortured people, and now those responsible don't want to face the consequences.... but they want average Americans to face the increased likelihood of a terrorist attack- - they've never had a problem putting poor Americans on the front lines to defend their mistakes, and that's what they are trying to do again. They want this to be blue vs. red instead of lawbreaker vs. innocent civilian that had no say in what his/her govenment did. That way they can hide behind the cover of right and left yelling at each other. That way they will never have to pay for the human rights abuses they alone chartered (the American people were NOT asking Bush et. al. to torture people).
And by the way... I know the memory hole is deep in this country, but didn't Bush campaign on the idea of bringing accountability back to Washington, D.C.? Yep.

[JoeTheBlogger]

i am in favor of prosecuting prez bush, vp chenney, rummy, condi, and all of the big fish. until then, everything else is just window dressing.

[mmgbizgirl]

Don't think so Pork Chop.

Torture is just one issue. The massive abuse of power by your administration is the worst in modern history and the People want justice.

[kimleehan]

Are you sure its retribution that the right-wing is worried about and not reparations because if its proven that Bush authorized torture than the U.N. will surely force the U.S. to pay reparations and than we'll have to raise taxes, and you know how they hate to pay taxes.

[sahnat]

If nothing else, the torture issue has revealed the deep animosity that right wing "Conservatives" hold toward the U.S. and what we stand for. We are (or were) a Country of laws, yet Conservatives ignore that truth in the debate over torture as a policy. They argue that laws and treaties are contrary to our national security or irrelvant at best. Instead they argue the false premise that the ends justify the means. Falsehoods such as that torutre is effective (it is not) or that "everybody" approved of it (not the FBI nor many military commanders in the battlefield), ignore the fundamental issues of legality and morality. They can dress up in minute-man constumes and tea bag all they want, but the truth is that they hate the Constitution and constraints it imposes on their quest for power. They are the real enemy we face, not terrorists hiding in caves.

[GOP4MoreTears]

Imagine that, who wold have thunk it, just like rocket science... I guess.

[Savanna]

There is nothing political about torture. Torture is inhumane..period the end. There are no exceptions.
Torture is WRONG.

[WowJones]

Today, in New Hampshire, Sen. McCain told ABC News, "I have sought that result for years. Waterboarding is a form of torture. And I'm convinced that this will not only help us in our interrogation techniques, but it will also be helpful for our image in the world."

If it were so effective and legal, why would the CIA ban it's use? They knew they had a legal and ethical question, that's why.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/09/cia-bans-water-.html

[SMDHP]

WGAS WGAF what McCain says. He is pandering to his hard right base with every breath that wind bag makes.

[WowJones]

That one went over your head. McCain wasn't pandering to anyone, because as a n individual who had been tortured, he clearly understands that it is wrong.

[magic3400]

One of the arguments that Bin Laden uses to justify his attacks is the there are no innocent civilians, when our government acts it does so with the consent of the governed.

Bush killed THOUSANDS of Iraqis, TORTURED people, used programs like Extraordinary Rendition, jailed them for years without trial, suspended habeas corpus and declared they have NO rights.

Those who defend our behavior have taken Bin Laden's bait - You've been Punk'd,

He knew that revenge would out weigh your desire to hold onto your moral character, maintain your democratic way of life, and to live by the rule of law.

He knew your history of subjugating people of color and racism and he stoked those embers of hatred, and once burning, a roaring fire would follow and its control would be impossible. He played you like a bass fiddle.

He knew your response would make him whole, that his teachings would be borne out by the "shock and awe" of American military muscle, that Muslims would die and many more Muslims would rally to jihad, the sheik became a prophet.

You walked into his trap, one in which there is no way out.

Now you seek to find an accomplice, Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid will do.

The trap has become a comfortable place to live, it has new curtains, the yard is being manicured, and a new deck was just built in the back yard...but the foundation is rotten to the core!

[unkn1]

Excellent post. However, I hope you are wrong about there not being a way out. Unfortunately, it will take decades to repair the damage done in the past 8 years. If the US starts to act according to its supposed principles, we should be OK in the long run. BUT, my grandmother always said "IF" is the biggest word in the English language.

[magic3400]

I hope I'm wrong too.

Thanks

[TJCole]

Karl; I just want to thank you for all you've done to help destroy the Republican party and bring back to life the Confederacy...!

[Layman23]

Man, you nailed it. Republican party has lost all sense of national iimportance. They just look like a bunch of wanna be confederates !

[postman606]

When the preeminent Congressional expert on torture met with the W.H he and other Congressman let them know that waterboarding was not to be used on detainees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIHHZ59aWoA&feature=PlayList&p=A0718AA053A0D5A7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=34

[dolphy]

There were more than a hundred documented cases of prisoners who died in US custody. It's probably a lot more than a hundred, maybe in the thousands if you count the people who died in Afghanistan, Iraq and other black sites.

[postman606]

What is sickening is that fact that individuals want to continue debating the fact that waterboarding is torture. It clearly has been described as torture by the international community and by our DOJ.

http://lawreview.wustl.edu/slip-opinions/waterboarding-is-illegal/

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1356870

[flossophy]

wrong...

your information is distorted.

[postman606]

I know it doesn't fit your twisted narrative. But one thing is for sure, every time someone on our side or the other side has been caught doing it, they were punished.

[BioLiberty]

We convicted the Japanese for it after ww2. We even convicted our own soldiers for it after Vietnam for it. So what make it less of a crime now? NOTHING! Your ignorance is what is distorted. Support the troops by prosecuting Bush at the rest for war crimes. It is after all the only honorable think to do.

[AmericanWarrior]

Torture is a crime. Not sure what rock you crawled from under but.....

[Grunty1]

Projecting, as always.

[hjfraser2002]

Wrong it is not floppsy.

[Rule Of Law]

I think that Karl Rove is the source of the swine flu!