In addition, Cheney claimed that our waterboarding wasn’t torture because we elevated the victim’s feet so that they wouldn’t drown. The Fact Checker reviews Cheney’s statements and finds him completely full of bullshit. He has lied to us repeatedly, with absolutely no remorse, and he doesn’t dare stop lying now. He would do anything and say anything to save his own lying ass.
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10 Comments
Like he faces any threat of persecution. Nothing will happen to Cheney, wall street etc.
Dick “The Dick” Cheney: “I’m more concerned with bad guys who got out and were released than I am with a few, uh, that uh, in fact were innocent.”
The Founders of the United States: “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process.”
Indict. Now. It’s not going to happen here, but the International Court of Justice can and should do this. Yes, it will cause a backlash here among the Right who will use this as a reason to argue that the U.S. needs to withdraw from the U.N. I frankly don’t care. This man has destroyed any hint of moral standing that the U.S. ever had. Indict him.
And yes, Hassan, I agree that those same words can be applied to Obama for targeted killings and drone strikes. I will not argue against that except to note that there is potential legal ambiguity, as international law doesn’t explicitly ban such attacks. I find the program deplorable and immoral, and it should be banned.
However, in regard to Cheney, there is absolutely no ambiguity whatsoever. Here is the exact wording of the Geneva Conventions’ definition of torture:
“…any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession…”
As a Soldier I am against torture. When our government uses this technique we deprive ourselves of any standing in calling out our enemies who are then given the right to use it with out fear. It’s like legalizing murder, and then deciding to arrest someone for murder. Total hypocrisy.
It is long know that our enemies have and will use torture against our captured Soldiers. We are taught to wear that as a badge of honor if we find ourselves in that situation. Just because they do it to us, doesn’t mean we can do it to them.
Article 6 of the Code of Conduct for captured US Soldiers states:
I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/10631.html
Why should we dishonor our veterans who endured so much anguish at the hands of their captors, by becoming just like them.
The really sad part, it seems that a good majority of the American public thinks torture is okay.
And the majority of our public have never served. I haven’t heard of one veteran coming out in favor of this, although there could be a few. Most of those in favor of this have never laced up a pair of boots and been a potential POW. Unfortunately it effects not only Soldiers, but all foreign service workers including intel operatives. And while I completely agree that it should never have been condoned or used and aware that the best remedy is copious amounts of sunlight, I am leery of calling out the lower level persons who carried out their orders, which I’m afraid was done with the release of the report. I can agree however, with calling out the policy makers.
Wildwood, I would take any such polling data with a heaping spoonful of salt. The NBC/WSJ poll (51% approved) asked if “harsh interrogation practices on suspected terrorists…were acceptable under the circumstances.” The Pew Report (58% approved) asked if “CIA interrogation methods following 9/11 [were] justified.” Both questions are biased because they use euphemisms to refer to torture. The NBC/WSJ is particularly egregious by referring to “suspected terrorists.” In one instance mentioned in the Daily Show video, these agents murdered an innocent man due to mistaken identity; it is gross journalistic negligence to ignore this fact. Actually, I take it back. The Pew question is even worse, because it ignores the fact that these practices went on for YEARS and were not directly related to 9/11.
Here’s the other telling fact about the Pew study: 56% believe this torture “provided intelligence that helped prevent terrorist attacks.” This is patently false. You might as well publish a study that 56% of Americans believe that girls are literally made up of sugar and spice and everything nice. It doesn’t change the fact that those 56% are flat-out wrong.
Patriotsgt, I’m with you. Since WWII, it’s been a common refrain to say that “I was just following orders” isn’t an acceptable defense and some believe that soldiers should be held accountable for carrying out torture and atrocities when ordered. But I disagree with that in this case. There seems to be plenty of evidence that agents and soldiers involved tried to raise objections. In this case, guilt lies with Cheney, Hayden, and others at the top.
Show them how the rule of law is supposed to operate. Indict them and try them in a court of law with the evidence laid out for all to see. If a jury convicts them, sentence them to prison for a very long time. If not, set them free to live out their days in infamy and shame.
Whatever happens though, stop giving them a damn platform on Sunday morning propaganda shows.
The United States does not submit to the authority of the International Criminal Court.
Jon, yup. For exactly this reason. Pure hypocrisy.
Michael, I totally agree.