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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Donald Trump On Waterboarding: "Torture Works"

Alan: Conservatives believe in torture because they believe that there is always a level of violence that "wins." 

This was not true in Vietnam where we dropped more ordnance on a country the size of North Dakota than was dropped throughout Europe during the entire Second World War. 

This was not true in Iraq where the most ill-advised invasion in history resulted in the spread of chaos, the destabilization of the whole Middle East, the political vaccum in which ISIS was born. 

It also bears mention that "Iran won the Iraq War."

As Marshall McLuhan observed about the future of warfare: "To the spoils belongs the victor."

Tragically, conservatives are shackled by religious conviction that only "everlasting torment" guarantees The Victory of God.

The Age-Old Normalization Of Warfare Through Stupidity, Ego And Religion

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-age-old-normalization-of-warfare.html

Torture: The CIA's First Detainee Spent 266 Days In A Box The Size Of A Coffin


Bush's Torture Team: Legal Counselor John Yoo Justifies Crushing Children's Testicles
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/12/dubyahs-torture-team-legal-counselor.html

The Only CIA Officer In Prison For The Torture Program...

CIA Director, Michael Hayden, Insists On Due Process.... For Himself!

The CIA Torture Manual Was Written By A Pair Of Charlatans

"The Torture-Free True Story Of The Best USMC Interrogator In WWII"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-torture-free-true-story-of-best.html

Give Conservatives The Small Stuff In Exchange For Single Payer Healthcare
(Single Payer - or some government supervised system much like it - is the only way to make enough healthcare cost cuts to prevent "the bank" from breaking.)

Federal Reserve Bank Investigator Carmen Segarra Fired For Holding Banks Responsible

On Balance, Torture Is Massively Counter-Productive And Self-Destructive

Dick Cheney On Torturing Prisoners: "I'd Do It Again In A Minute"

On Balance, Torture Is Massively Counter-Productive And Self-Destructive

Dick Cheney On Torturing Prisoners: "I'd Do It Again In A Minute"

"My Client, A Torture Victim"

Even If Torture Doesn't Work In The Real World, TV Convinces Us It Does

The Ethics Of Torture Explored In E.M.Coetzee's Painful Novel

Black Hawk Down Author: "Torture Has Yielded Few Intelligence Gains"

Torture Doesn't Work. Here's What Does

"CIA Torture Report A Travesty," Charles Krauthammer

The Torture-Free True Story Of The Best USMC Interrogator In WWII

The CIA Torture Report Presents A Real Challenge To American Exceptionalism

Torture Is Who We Are: A Country, Like A Person, Is What It Does

Christianity's Bedrock Commitment To Torture: Remaking "The Faithful" In God's Image

Americans, Especially Catholics, Approve Of Inquisitorial Torture


"Trial By Ordeal: The Bloody Old Testamental Roots Of Modern Justice"


Donald Trump on waterboarding: ‘Torture works’
BLUFFTON, S.C. — Donald Trump said Wednesday that he supports waterboarding and similar interrogation techniques because "torture works" in the questioning of terrorists.
Proponents of waterboarding are careful not to label the technique as torture, which is forbidden by various international laws and treaties. President Obama's administration discontinued the use of waterboarding because it deemed the technique to be torture. During a campaign event at the Sun City retirement community, Trump emphasized his intention to reinstate waterboarding and techniques that are "so much worse" and "much stronger."
"Don't tell me it doesn't work -- torture works," Trump said. "Okay, folks? Torture -- you know, half these guys [say]: 'Torture doesn't work.' Believe me, it works. Okay?"
Trump has long called for the return of waterboarding, and he has seemed to embrace the idea of torture in the past without using the term himself. During a Feb. 7 interview on ABC's "This Week," host George Stephanopoulos asked Trump whether he "would authorize torture." Trump responded: "I would absolutely authorize something beyond waterboarding."
He wrote an op-ed piece on the issue for USA Today on Monday called "I will do whatever it takes."
[Past coverage: Donald Trump’s answer on torture is really out there — even for Trump]
Trump's campaign manager and spokeswoman have not responded to a request for comment.
Trump's remark on Wednesday was in response to a question from South Carolina state Rep. Bill Herbkersman (R), who asked the candidate a series of questions in a fireside-chat-style event that lasted 33 minutes.
"On that whole thing of politically correct, would you allow U.S. interrogators to waterboard terrorist prisoners in order to extract information?" Herbkersman asked Trump.
"Absolutely," Trump said to strong applause from the audience of about 500 retirees, who often laughed as Trump discussed enhanced interrogation techniques.
Trump hit opponent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) for being "really weak" on this issue during an earlier debate.
"He didn't want to get involved because he thought waterboarding was bad, so — of course it's bad, but it's not chopping off heads, folks," Trump said. "Okay? That I can tell you."
Trump said that he would "immediately" resume waterboarding and other techniques that are "much worse" because the United States is facing a barbaric enemy.
"They're chopping off our heads in the Middle East," Trump said. "They want to kill us, they want to kill us. They want to kill our country. They want to knock out our cities. And don't tell me it doesn't work — torture works. Okay, folks?"
He called waterboarding a "minor form" of interrogation.
"Some people say it's not actually torture — let's assume it is," Trump said. "But they asked me the question: 'What are you going to do on waterboarding?' Absolutely fine, but we should go much stronger than waterboarding. That's the way I feel."

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