newsobserver.com projects - Hagan 'concerned' by torture report - Comments

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

dahedgehog — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:18:40 -0400

PaulTerrell
I have a question that ANYONE for these types of interrogation cannot answer [sic]. That includes PaulTerrell.

Would you support using an army of unicorns to permanently defeat terrorism if it meant that ONE innocent civilian got killed? Tough question eh?

(The lesson: pestering people with impossible hypothetical scenarios is a good sign that you don't have an argument to make)

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

captainjack — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:47:52 -0400

It appears to me that they have not needed much help in recruiting members. And long before waterboarding became the central issue. Seems to me they have been rather reluctant to accept our "Western Values." I certainly can't see where they should have anything against us......except, of course, waterboarding.

Solve this problem and it's all over.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

greenswamp — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:24:13 -0400

In a losing argument, always throw out the words ACORN and liberal to ease the blow. You're right that it is a complicated matter and we have seen some very simplistic thinking over the past eight years. "We are fighting them there, so we won't have to fight them here", "He tried to kill my daddy" are a few examples. Let's let our very capable military have the last word on this matter.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

SouthsideJohnny — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:38:14 -0400

"That's a really good historical indicator of how you tell the good guys from the bad guys."

I believe the current liberal thinking is that the good guys are those serving with John Wayne in those real-life, honest-to-goodness, truthful war movies.

I did my military service and was certainly no hero. But I do believe this issue is a little more complicated than what to order at Starbucks. But the sentiments of this country swing back and forth just like all the rest and this is a fervent issue over which to make some political gains.

Have at it.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

Gosh — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:29:03 -0400

Evil does not exist.

Evil does exist, even evil regimes. And one of the hallmarks of an evil regime is whether or not they condone systemic torture.

That's a really good historical indicator of how you tell the good guys from the bad guys.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

SouthsideJohnny — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:19:28 -0400

I think the days of torture are over. Once President Obama talks to the guy in Iran and to the leaders of the Taliban, then everything will be all right. He will tell them to be nice and then they will be nice. Everyone will live in harmony and ACORN can register them to vote. That is all we have needed, someone to tell them to be nice. All these people need is someone to smile at them. Evil does not exist. It is all a misunderstanding. Once they accept our wonderful Western values they will find happiness.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

Gosh — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:14 -0400

Would you support further use of these tactics if it is proven ONE life is saved? Tough question eh?

As with all unquantifiable platitudes of a meaningless nature, the only meaningful answer is the exact same question in reverse:

Would you admit torture is counter productive if it was proven to merely embolden recruitment of enemy combatants like suicide bombers?

Or historically, one could ask if the Japanese waterboarding of Air Force officer Chase J. Nielsen, one of the U.S. airmen who flew in the Doolittle raid following the attack on Pearl Harbor, was successful in saving the lives of a single Japanese civilian at Hiroshima?

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

PaulTerrell — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:44:59 -0400

I have a question that ANYONE against these types of interrogation cannot answer. That includes McCain.

Would you support further use of these tactics if it is proven ONE life is saved? Tough question eh?

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

greenswamp — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:35:44 -0400

I believe that there are selfless people like our troops,who give and ask nothing in return. I also believe that there are selfish people who think only about their own personal safety above all else and I feel that I know the difference between the two.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

greenswamp — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:31:25 -0400

I really am more concerned about what our troops think. I hope that they think that even though they are captured that we are doing everything we can to keep them from being beheaded. We can't preempt beheading, but we can take the zeal out of their fight by not torturing. It's hard to rally people around their cause if the detainees are treated fairly.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

Gosh — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:58:12 -0400

Sen. John McCain on waterboarding.

"One is too much. Waterboarding is torture, period. I can ensure you that once enough physical pain is inflicted on someone, they will tell that interrogator whatever they think they want to hear. And most importantly, it serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us."

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

captainjack — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:02:31 -0400

What do the combatants think?

On the one hand you have the soldier who thinks, "If I am captured they will cut my head off."

On the other hand, the terrorist thinks, "If I am captured they will waterboard me."

I would probably opt for the waterboarding. Seems to be less final.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

jwileyj — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:54:25 -0400

C'mon Hagan.

A simple "duhh" would have been sufficient and coveyed the same sense of understanding on your part. Sheesh.

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

CitizenOpinionated — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:07:19 -0400

Ahmadinejad raps Obama for shunning racism meeting

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday criticised US President Barack Obama's boycott of a United Nations racism conference, dubbing it "unhelpful."

On Monday the international racism conference in Geneva, which the United States boycotted, fell into disarray after Ahmadinejad's verbal onslaught against Israel triggered a mass walkout and furious rebukes from Western capitals.

"I should give you, the new US administration, this advice. Mr Obama came to power with the slogan of 'change', meaning the American people like the rest of the world want a change in the colonialism policy," Ahmdinejad told crowds in a speech broadcast live from Varamin, a city south of Tehran.

"Therefore it would have been imperative for him to take part in the world's most important conference of racism and denounce racism, (confirming) that the US is pursuing a changed policy in confronting racism," he added.

"But to sit at his place and condemn my remarks is not helpful in solving the issues," he added, amid the habitual slogans of "death to America and death to Israel."

Obama on Tuesday vowed that he will continue to follow "tough" direct diplomacy with Iran despite the latest anti-Israel tirade by Ahmadinejad.

Obama said after holding talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan that the Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric at a United Nations racism conference was "appalling" and "not helpful, it is harmful."

Do we really think that Ahmadinejad cares about torturing or the Geneva convention?

Re: Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

CitizenOpinionated — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:03:29 -0400

I agree - we should protect our military at all costs since they are willing to give up their lives for us.

Do you think that releasing material on how we interrogate earns any more respect on the international level?

Do you not think that the terrorist now know that we are all talk now?

I have a question for you Greenswamp...

When you meet someone - do you think that they are good or evil?

Hagan 'concerned' by torture report

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:53:35 -0400

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan said she is "deeply concerned" by a recent report on torture.

The Greensboro Democrat told Dome that she was troubled by a report from the Senate Armed Services Committee about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and Afghanistan.

"I am opposed to torture and deeply concerned about the information revealed in these documents," she said in a statement. "I have two nephews serving our country on active duty and the thought of them being tortured is unfathomable to me."

Hagan added that military psychologists have said the information gleaned from suspects "may have been unreliable and unusable."

"Our country needs reliable and accurate information to protect itself; I'm concerned that the information gained using these techniques was neither," she said.

The 232-page report was drawn from more than 70 interviews and 200,000 pages of classified and unclassified documents.

Both Hagan and Sen. Richard Burr serve on the committee.