Not national security. To provide political cover for the Iraq war, which the Bushists wanted from the beginning, the entire military and foreign policy apparatus of Duhbya's maladministration sought torture to justify assertions they knew were bullshit.
Repeated torture of bad men sought a predetermined answer, not even intelligence. It was a series of war crimes in either case, but it is much more awful that it had no practical national purpose, only the craven goal of staying in power. It was about breaking the prisoners, not about learning what they knew.
The Bushists knew what they were doing. That's why they were so careful to put in place their bullshit get out of jail free cards from the Office of Legal Counsel.
There have to be consequences for these despicable people.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Torture for politics
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The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project:
"Mr. Cheney is correct to propose that the public should have more information about the CIA's torture program...(rest here)
Of course I have chopped the quote and the ACLU, being the ACLU, has to go on to hit Cheney, but this shows at least they accept his premise that we don't know what we don't know, and Obama's promise of transparency remains empty.
KSM, LA library towers. Redacted by Obama. Nuff said.
"... but disclosure should be comprehensive." This follows directly after your quote, which strongly suggests you chose to break that sentence where you did in order to make it appear to say something it doesn't.
The ACLU's point is exactly the point I made independently on a previous thread. Cheney is a master at releasing just the part of the truth that makes him look good, hiding the rest from peons like us. Let's have a representative release that doesn't compromise sources and methods. Well, legal sources and methods, anyway.
Obama's promise is half-full. You're just too self-blinded to see that.
>which strongly suggests you chose to break that sentence...
Another tired Andrew Sullivan ploy (a 'Sullied'?). That's exactly what I did. And according to the ACLU, "Cheney is correct"!!! And let me know when the glass is all full. We won't prosecute the CIA, but perhaps Bush official who the CIA asked for legal advice. What a fucking banana republic when we throw the previous administration in jail for detailed legal advice. I hope we fill that glass by putting Pelosi in the dock to answer once and for all what she knew and when she knew it.
Yeah, a banana republic is where the rule of law doesn't matter, and sufficiently motivated banana Republicans can redefine any word they want to exculpate themselves of any future legal consequences. And their dishonest defenders will blatantly quote-mine and then defend that with some weak bullshit.
The glass is filling up. Not slopping over the rim and haltingly, but it's still wildly better than hiding the glass in an undisclosed location the way the Bushists did.
If we have lost our moral bearings, as the ONE insists, he will release the full memo, so we can make an informed moral evaluation of the techniques employed and the outcomes that resulted. He will not change the subject and throw some more pictures at his screaming caged monkees. But Cheney is in his head.
Well, that's the dumbest thing I've read today. If you try a little harder, maybe you can attain dumbest of the week.
Liberal trait #2: To insult those you disagree with. Ad hominems, appeal to authority, etc.
Cheney said Obama is making us less safe. Biden makes idiot of self on Larry King (? - but who cares). Obama attacks this now-powerless ex-VP and releases redacted memos. Cheney doubles down by demanding that we see the fruits of the coercion, not just the legal opinion of how the coercion is to be instituted, detailed in the redacted parts. And the non-sequitur that satisfies the Kool-Aid drinkers ("wildly better" = first prize for Sulli-istic use of adverbs): Obama releases pictures of prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Self-pitying victimhood, so often ascribed by conservatives to liberals, is more often a trait of conservatives. Now you're worried about ad hominem attacks, but you're the one who started with "the One" and "screaming caged monkees [sic]".
Your inability to see the log in your own eye suggests either insincerity or lack of basic moral development, to wit the ability to apply the golden rule.
Further, I attacked what you said. I didn't even call you dumb, just your statement.
Whoops, the glass emptied again.
Always an expiration date on Obama's promises.
Now you're arguing for transparency! Welcome to the light side.
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