lifehappens

Join Date 07/2004

Anyone got a bandaid for the bleeding heart liberals?

A friend's blog quoted this headline from Democracynow.org. I want to scream!

Report: Bush Wants to Retain Controversial Interrogation Techniques
New details have been revealed on the Republican divide over the Bush administration’s plan for the treatment of prisoners in US custody. Newsweek magazine reports the administration wants to maintain at least seven existing CIA interrogation techniques for use against high-level detainees. The techniques include induced hypothermia; long periods of forced standing; sleep deprivation and so called “attention slapping.” The administration is facing resistance from three key Republican Senators on the Armed Services Committee, including John McCain of Arizona. The three helped pass a measure last week affirming Common Article Three of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits inhumane treatment.

hmmmm. That's a lot of fuss over the treatment of people trying to kill me. Althought they are more likely to directly affect my husband. Let's look at the charges of "inhumane treatment"....

"High-level detainees"~These are not just some joe shmoe we pulled off the street. These are terrorists, serious offenders who have information that could hurt us. We won't get a lick of info by saying "please". We need more motivating factors to break down their ability to fight us.

None of these techniques is life threatening or will cause permanent damage. It comes back to "If a soldier puts up with it....then it ain't torture".
Hypothermia- 8 hours of unrelieved guard duty in the snow anyone? Yeah, that sounds familiar. Is it fun? no. Is it torture? also no. If you dont' loose a limb, quit whining.
Long periods of forced standing-Parade/Ceremony practice.....usually at least one full 8 hour day, sometimes more, spent standing in the hot sun and/or rain to make some general feel good when he retires. Soldiers pass out so regularly that backups wait by ambulances to fill in the gaps when a soldier falls out. So, once again, quit whining.
Sleep deprivation~Parenthood aside, there are times when I have been required to stay away to accomplish a mission for extended periods...48 hours isn't even the worst I've seen. Interns are subjected to long days that last 3 days. The so called “attention slapping" is a good way to wake up, huh? Quit bitching!

We aren't discussing hot pokers, pulling hair out, cutting, burning, stretching, rubbing them with pig's blood or forcing them to fight to the death for our amusement. They WANT TO KILL US. We need to stop them by whatever means needed. And if that means breaking thier spirit and not treating them like princesses, then so be it.

If ANY soldier at ANY time has been asked to serve their country and suffered through hardships......it ain't torture! So, no bed? no A/C? boring diet? lack of sleep? getting yelled at? Standing at attention for hours? all I have to say is Quit Whining!

*And this is coming from an Army perspective...Marines and SF suffer a LOT worse than I ever have."

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Nice except for one important thing, when it is American troops suffering in the ways you described, that is ok because they are volenteers, but when it is the poor suffering terrorist being subjected to the same exact treatment the left feels it distresses there poor freedom fighters and one day the left hopes to havae them vote.

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Great article. But my question is simpler. How did these people get that information? It is not common knowledge. So are they guessing? My guess is they are.

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Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1047

How surprising. Democrats complaining about how we treat our enemies.

Why don't these people lobby the terrorists and terrorist regimes to comply when our soldiers are captured?

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the Geneva Convention and how we treat prisoners reflect who we are,,,that's what it's all about. being America in name only, without the moral highground or values that have gotten us here is a terrorist victory. torture emboldens them. stop slinging arrows at fellow americans which is just what they want. ya can't be the good guy and an amoral bully at the same time.

i'm not a "bleeding heart liberal" but what you are doing does far more damage than any good you think it might produce. i'm really getting sick of the terrorists playing this administration and way too many americans like a violin.

grow up people,,,you are not going to ass-kick and torture your way out of this...it is a long term hearts/minds battle, we need to show the world our ideas are simply better...not show them we throw all we believe in the toilet when someone rattles our cage. which is what you are doing here.

you can't promote freedom and democracy at the end of a gun...at the end of the day, you just have to be better, otherwise, we lose.

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If what's described there are the sum total of the methods used ... then every leader in the US Army, Navy, Marine Corp and Air Force is guilty of war crimes - even if they've never fired a shot in anger.

Hell, I went through more than that in high school! Sheesh. Now are the teachers and staff at Prince George County High School (in VA) war criminals? No. Despite what some of the student body thinks.

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Dunno about liberals, but you could offer this dude a bandaid...

Notice it is our fault, regardless of any other info that comes to light?

Canadian Inquiry Absolves Maher Arar; Faults Canada, US Officials
The Canadian government has acknowledged for the first time that one of the most well-known victims of CIA extraordinary rendition is a completely innocent man( they had known previously then?). On Monday, a judge concluded a major investigation into the case of Maher Arar. He’s the Syrian-born Canadian detained nearly four years ago by US authorities at JFK airport in New York. Rather than being released and sent home to his family in Canada, Arar ended up in a Syrian jail (not US run)where he was repeatedly tortured. US officials accused him of links to al-Qaeda. On Monday, Justice Dennis O’Connor wrote: "I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offence or that his activities constituted a threat to the security of Canada." The inquiry concluded that Canadian officials did not play a direct role in Arar’s detention or deportation. However the judge found that the U.S. government’s decision to send Arar to Syria was likely based on inaccurate and misleading information provided by Canadian authorities. The judge also criticized Canadian officials for leaking confidential and sometimes inaccurate information about Arar to the media for the purpose of damaging his reputation or protecting the government’s interests. Although the report focused on the Canadian government, Judge O’Connor also had criticism for US officials. He wrote: “The American authorities who handled Mr. Arar’s case treated Mr. Arar in a most regrettable fashion. They removed him to Syria against his wishes and in the face of his statements that he would be tortured if sent there.

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had we treated him as we would any other criminal he wouldnt have been subjected to that.

What exactly should they have done? Hold him in a country where the alleged crime was NOT committed? Lawfully, he was turnned over to the governing body he was accountable to.

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*sighs*

*grabs the labeler and tosses it in the trash*

Okay, sure...I agree with some of what is here....but, do we really have to continuosly label people? Bleeding heart liberal. Religious right. (so on and so forth)

Who gives a flying fark? I don't. I know several people who don't. It only causes bigger rifts in my opinion.

*chuckles dryly*

What the hell do i know, eh?

*shakes head*

Peace...

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I agree that Canada was the first at fault, and deserves to be given the majority of the blame and yes, perhaps the U.S. should shoulder some of the blame, however, let's not forget which country in all of this did the actual torturing.

Let's not give the people that did the most horrendous part of this three part equation a complete bye.

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In the headline you mention bleeding heart liberals, but the text you quoted talks about McCain, Warner, and Graham. I hate to point out the obvious, but none of them are liberals, bleeding heart or otherwise.

You also make the comparison of the things our military members have to endure and torture. Again, I'm pointing out the obvious but surely you realize that the three men you mentioned are all veterans? I think they can make the distinction between what our military goes through in training, and real torture.

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In other words, since it was Canada that erroneously told us he was a threat, and he was travelling on a Canadian passport, we should have turned him over to Canadian authorities, not Syrian.

Canada was in on the descision. Since I dont' know the exact details of the accusation....I'll just point out that Canada didn't ask for him to be sent to Canada...They wanted him shipped off as well. So I assume that the Syrian born man being shipped off to Syria was legit. (Notice it he's just a *canadian man*-is he a citizen? how long? blah blah blah...point is there was more info here)

Okay, sure...I agree with some of what is here....but, do we really have to continuosly label people? Bleeding heart liberal. Religious right. (so on and so forth)

Because it's fun and pisses people off.

Let's not give the people that did the most horrendous part of this three part equation a complete bye.

I have noticed that as well. The media and protestors line up at the US door, blame in hand all the time, but I have yet to see them protest in the Middle East.

The protesting media that portrays this as a bad thing=whiny, bleeding heart liberals. but the lable was for them not for MC/W/G

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Not a damned thing, Lucas...err..Dude...err....SilentPoet...err, how many more times are you gonna change your name this week?Just remember, kiddo, no matter where you go (or what you call yourself in your repeated JU re-incarnations) there you are.

I wasn't sure, but I had my suspicions....thanks for IDing for me

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