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Cross posted at The Pullins Report.
I could say a lot on this topic, but the email I've reproduced below says it much better than I ever could. It is long past time for my fellow Republicans to stand up and reject this kind of barbaric behavior. Being a Republican, especially a conservative one, has to be more than just "following the advice of the generals", or reflexively "supporting the troops", or "supporting the president."
We can begin by rejecting torture, especially the torture of waterboarding as described here.
Scott A. Pullins, Esq.
Publisher,
The Pullins Report
From my email inbox:
I love America. I'm guessing you do too. But for me America is not a place, a piece of land, or a pretty flag. It's not a military parade or a stirring anthem.
For me, America is an idea. America is the one place where the huddled masses can come to breath free -- that is, if they're not subject to the "water cure."
Orwellian euphemism reaches its zenith as the war criminals who now run our government call water-boarding an "enhanced interrogation technique." Water-boarding is said to simulate drowning. But it really simulates dying.
French journalist Henri Alleg was a victim of water-boarding torture in 1957. His description of it is chilling. His torturers strapped him to a plank, put a cloth over his face, and turned on a water faucet over his head. Here is what followed, in his own words . . .
"The rag was soaked rapidly. Water flowed everywhere: in my mouth, in my nose, all over my face. But for a while I could still breathe in some small gulps of air. I tried, by contracting my throat, to take in as little water as possible and to resist suffocation by keeping air in my lungs for as long as I could. But I couldn't hold on for more than a few moments. I had the impression of drowning, and a terrible agony, that of death itself, took possession of me. In spite of myself, all the muscles of my body struggled uselessly to save me from suffocation. In spite of myself, the fingers of both my hands
shook uncontrollably. "That's it! He's going to talk," said a voice.
"The water stopped running and they took away the rag. I was able to breathe. In the gloom, I saw the lieutenants and the captain, who, with a cigarette between his lips, was hitting my stomach with his fist to make me throw out the water I had swallowed." [Source: Wikipedia] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding >
Side effects of this torture can include heart attack, asphyxiation, damage to the lungs, cell damage from oxygen-deprivation, and even death. Long term psychological effects can include panic attacks, depression, and post-traumatic stress syndrome. In one case a water-boarding victim panicked every time it rained.
I'm told that a TV reporter was water-boarded on camera and didn't think it was that bad. But he wasn't the victim of determined interrogators who would continue the torture long past his breaking point. The reporter knew he would be okay. Those kidnapped into hostile hands do not.
Judge Evan Wallach <http://preview.tinyurl.com/2gjxzz > has reminded us that the United States prosecuted Japanese military and government figures for water-boarding at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. If it was torture then, it's torture now, no matter what the President wants to call it.
Water-boarding is torture. Water-boarding is a crime. Our government is committing crimes.
Sadly, many retired military officers say that our soldiers now faced increased risk of being tortured in the same way we are torturing others.
Remember that on this Veteran's Day.
The politicians in Congress continue to go along with this charade. One could hardly expect better from a bunch of sociopaths attracted to the organized crime of tax-looting, influence peddling, and domination and control.
But what about the rest of us who claim to be "good people?" What does our toleration of torture, abandonment of Fourth Amendment warrant requirements, and willingness to toss aside the ancient right of habeas corpus say about our national character?
Congress claims to represent us. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps criminality has become our national character. But . . .
There is one bill in House, put forth by one principled man, Ron Paul of Texas, that bans torture, rehabilitates the Fourth Amendment, and restores habeas corpus. But Ron Paul has no co-sponsors for this bill. We repeat, he has NO co-sponsors. And there is no companion bill introduced in the United States Senate.
This is unconscionable and reflects badly on us as a nation. (Source - Downsize DC Inc.)
When people hear the word "America," high ideals should come to mind. As Americans we should always strive for the ideals of democracy, liberty, justice and human rights. Certainly, we have fallen short in the past but the ideals were always there.
But torture has now become official American policy. It's dangerous for our troops who get captured in the future.
And, it isn't effective in getting good intelligence. People will say anything to make torture stop then politicians will stand up and say how some bogus plot was stopped.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a growing membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, over 130 religious groups have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Roman Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities. Members include national