Ex (thank God) Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter have crawled out of their undisclosed location appearing in various interviews attempting to revise history, promote fear, bash the Obama administration, and admit he is a war criminal.
He insists that the torturing of suspected terrorists is the only way to keep America safe from attack, that the use of torture has provided actionable intelligence that saved thousands of lives and has kept the country safe since 9/11, that since torture works it is justified, and that the discontinuing of torturing by the present administration is tantamount to inviting another horrendous attack on American soil. At the same time he maintains that torture was never implemented, but admits that waterboarding was done repeatedly on certain individuals, and that he authorized it and championed its use.
Why anyone would believe a word this guy says on any subject is beyond me. This is the same guy that stated Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that Iraq was training Al Qaeda agents, and that Iraq was a serious threat to the United States, all of which have proved to be untrue.
Why he is doing this is unclear, but some motivations can be suggested. He is trying to rationalize his own illegal actions by maintaining that they were justified by the greater good of keeping the country safe from attack. The ends outweigh the means theory. He may be attempting to insulate himself from his own criminal prosecution by, what, blatantly admitting his culpability? Only a republican mind would come up with that one. And of course how can he pass up the opportunity to bash the current president and his policies. Quite frankly, I don't know why he is speaking up like he is, but I don't believe he's doing himself any favors. Methinks he doth protest too much.
He offers not a shred of evidence to support his position, and none of the interviewers he has selected has asked for any. He points to classified CIA documents that will supposedly vindicate the use of torture and prove its use has saved "thousands" of American lives. He, and other right wing "strategists" who parrot his words, point to the a 2002 plot to fly a plane into my beloved US Bank Tower (which houses my bank and favorite ATM) which was foiled due to information attained from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed by the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques." The only problem with this contention is that Sheikh Mohammed was not captured until March of 2003. But reality has never stopped the republicans from trying to maintain their agenda, which is to spread lies and misinformation to further their goals.
First and foremost, waterboarding is a form of torture. Our own country prosecuted Japanese soldiers in World War II for using it. Torture is illegal in this country and under international law, therefore Cheney has admitted publically to criminal acts, and warrants prosecution (as well as ex (thank God) President Bush, and other officials of his administration. Pure and simple. Whether torture works at getting reliable, actionable intelligence is completely irrelevant. It would have no bearing on the fact that a serious crime has been committed, even if it were true, which it's not. The "smoking gun" rationalization (the quick use of torture to stop an impending major attack) is just a theoretical query. What if this happens, or that. Well, if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. Any theoretical query can be used to justify any position. And for any of you right wing nut jobs who keep repeating over and over again that waterboarding is simply "getting splashed with a little water," I invite you to try it, just like Sean Hannity was asked to do, which he accepted, and has since reneged.
It has recently been revealed that Cheney had authorized the specific use of torture on certain individuals to establish and Iraq/Al Qaeda connection where none had existed. This would suggest that torturing was used for purely political reasons, which is especially onerous because he was consciencely attempting to justify an unnecessary and unjustifiable war, which he knew to be unnecessary and unjustifiable, and which has directly led to the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, a crime far more dire than authorizing the use of torture on individuals.
The republican's current scheme to divert attention from themselves (other than Cheney) is to admit that torture occurred and that Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi knew about it, and therefore was responsible for it, or at least as guilty as anyone else if investigations eventually take place. How this absolves the Bush administration and its officials of criminal acts is also unclear, but contrary to their intention, this ploy only continues to publicize the crimes of the preceding administration. Speaker Pelosi was briefed in interrogation techniques in a deliberate attempt to implicate democrats in republican crimes, but she has since stated that the CIA misled her at these briefs, and the CIA has since stated that although it is not their policy to mislead members of Congress, she may be right.
The Bush administration should be investigated and prosecuted for its many crimes. This may come to pass through no fault of the Obama administration, caused by the attention the republicans keep heaping upon the subject of torture, exactly like Mr. Cheney is doing. I for one hope he keeps bringing the spotlight on his own misbehavior and that it will eventually lead to his downfall.
And as far as keeping the country safe, Dick, on whose watch did 9/11 take place, and who ignored all the warnings simply because they came from Bill Clinton's people?
You certainly have a lot to answer for, Mr Cheney. The sooner the better.
He insists that the torturing of suspected terrorists is the only way to keep America safe from attack, that the use of torture has provided actionable intelligence that saved thousands of lives and has kept the country safe since 9/11, that since torture works it is justified, and that the discontinuing of torturing by the present administration is tantamount to inviting another horrendous attack on American soil. At the same time he maintains that torture was never implemented, but admits that waterboarding was done repeatedly on certain individuals, and that he authorized it and championed its use.
Why anyone would believe a word this guy says on any subject is beyond me. This is the same guy that stated Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that Iraq was training Al Qaeda agents, and that Iraq was a serious threat to the United States, all of which have proved to be untrue.
Why he is doing this is unclear, but some motivations can be suggested. He is trying to rationalize his own illegal actions by maintaining that they were justified by the greater good of keeping the country safe from attack. The ends outweigh the means theory. He may be attempting to insulate himself from his own criminal prosecution by, what, blatantly admitting his culpability? Only a republican mind would come up with that one. And of course how can he pass up the opportunity to bash the current president and his policies. Quite frankly, I don't know why he is speaking up like he is, but I don't believe he's doing himself any favors. Methinks he doth protest too much.
He offers not a shred of evidence to support his position, and none of the interviewers he has selected has asked for any. He points to classified CIA documents that will supposedly vindicate the use of torture and prove its use has saved "thousands" of American lives. He, and other right wing "strategists" who parrot his words, point to the a 2002 plot to fly a plane into my beloved US Bank Tower (which houses my bank and favorite ATM) which was foiled due to information attained from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed by the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques." The only problem with this contention is that Sheikh Mohammed was not captured until March of 2003. But reality has never stopped the republicans from trying to maintain their agenda, which is to spread lies and misinformation to further their goals.
First and foremost, waterboarding is a form of torture. Our own country prosecuted Japanese soldiers in World War II for using it. Torture is illegal in this country and under international law, therefore Cheney has admitted publically to criminal acts, and warrants prosecution (as well as ex (thank God) President Bush, and other officials of his administration. Pure and simple. Whether torture works at getting reliable, actionable intelligence is completely irrelevant. It would have no bearing on the fact that a serious crime has been committed, even if it were true, which it's not. The "smoking gun" rationalization (the quick use of torture to stop an impending major attack) is just a theoretical query. What if this happens, or that. Well, if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. Any theoretical query can be used to justify any position. And for any of you right wing nut jobs who keep repeating over and over again that waterboarding is simply "getting splashed with a little water," I invite you to try it, just like Sean Hannity was asked to do, which he accepted, and has since reneged.
It has recently been revealed that Cheney had authorized the specific use of torture on certain individuals to establish and Iraq/Al Qaeda connection where none had existed. This would suggest that torturing was used for purely political reasons, which is especially onerous because he was consciencely attempting to justify an unnecessary and unjustifiable war, which he knew to be unnecessary and unjustifiable, and which has directly led to the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, a crime far more dire than authorizing the use of torture on individuals.
The republican's current scheme to divert attention from themselves (other than Cheney) is to admit that torture occurred and that Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi knew about it, and therefore was responsible for it, or at least as guilty as anyone else if investigations eventually take place. How this absolves the Bush administration and its officials of criminal acts is also unclear, but contrary to their intention, this ploy only continues to publicize the crimes of the preceding administration. Speaker Pelosi was briefed in interrogation techniques in a deliberate attempt to implicate democrats in republican crimes, but she has since stated that the CIA misled her at these briefs, and the CIA has since stated that although it is not their policy to mislead members of Congress, she may be right.
The Bush administration should be investigated and prosecuted for its many crimes. This may come to pass through no fault of the Obama administration, caused by the attention the republicans keep heaping upon the subject of torture, exactly like Mr. Cheney is doing. I for one hope he keeps bringing the spotlight on his own misbehavior and that it will eventually lead to his downfall.
And as far as keeping the country safe, Dick, on whose watch did 9/11 take place, and who ignored all the warnings simply because they came from Bill Clinton's people?
You certainly have a lot to answer for, Mr Cheney. The sooner the better.
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