--- In [email protected], "Richard J. Williams" <willy...@...>
wrote:
>
> > > When Dick Cheney was Vice-President, there was
> > > not a single successful attack by terrorists on
> > > U.S. soil.
> > >
> enlightened_dawn11 wrote:
> > er...there was this one minor incident, referred
> > to as '911'...
> >
> When Dick Cheney was Vice-President, there was not
> a single successful attack by terrorists on U.S.
> soil after 9/11.
>
Dick Cheney is a disgrace. He mislead us into war with Iraq, sanctioned "harsh
interrogation techniques" (read torture) and he brings shame to our country
every time he claims such techniques prevented further attacks. Bottom line:
torture does not work. Today Ali Soufan, a former FBI investigator and
interrogator who went undercover as an al Qaida operative, testified to the
Senate Judiciary Committee. Soufan's closing statement:
"In summary, the Informed Interrogation Approach outlined in the Army Field
Manual is the most effective, reliable, and speedy approach we have for
interrogating terrorists. It is legal and has worked time and again.
It was a mistake to abandon it in favor of harsh interrogation methods that
are harmful, shameful, slower, unreliable, ineffective, and play directly into
the enemy's handbook. It was a mistake to abandon an approach that was working
and naively replace it with an untested method. It was a mistake to abandon an
approach that is based on the cumulative wisdom and successful tradition of our
military, intelligence, and law enforcement community, in favor of techniques
advocated by contractors with no relevant experience.
The mistake was so costly precisely because the situation was, and remains,
too risky to allow someone to experiment with amateurish, Hollywood style
interrogation methods- that in reality- taints sources, risks outcomes, ignores
the end game, and diminishes our moral high ground in a battle that is
impossible to win without first capturing the hearts and minds around the
world. It was one of the worst and most harmful decisions made in our efforts
against al Qaeda.
For the last seven years, it was not easy objecting to these methods when
they had powerful backers. I stood up then for the same reason I'm willing to
take on critics now, because I took an oath swearing to protect this great
nation. I could not stand by quietly while our country's safety was endangered
and our moral standing damaged."
Read more:
http://tinyurl.com/oy8cs7
