Comments on: Fox Reporter Waterboarded By Request (Bumped with an Update)

By: Jimmie

Jimmie — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:51:01 +0000

No, it's not torture. Torture has a specific definition which does not include waterboarding, which is why the Bush administration could specifically make waterboarding an approved EIT. If it really was torgture, then the administratino could not have done that any more than they could have made bank robbery an approved way of fixing the deficit.

Waterboarding could could be torture, legally, if Congress wanted it to be. The Democrats have had the chance to make it that way for many years. But they didn't because if they had passed a law making waterboarding torture, say, in 2002 when Nancy Pelosi found out about it, then they wouldn't have been able to use it to their political advantage. Don't like it? Take it up with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

By: RichMd

RichMd — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:49:03 +0000

Not torture? The reporter lasted 5 seconds and knew he could stop it at any moment.

I am guessing that for prisoners, it lasted for more than 5 seconds even if they asked it to stop. Prisoners were waterboarded dozens of times in a short amount of time.

By: Siding with Bush, Obama says Afghan detainees have no U.S. rights - Page 3 - Political Wrinkles

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:42:08 +0000

[...] Afghan detainees have no U.S. rights Torture is something that a news reporter would not do voluntarily… __________________ "You get the respect that you give" – [...]

By: Twinnamig

Twinnamig — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:18 +0000

Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.

I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.

God will appreciate it.

By: Tom Quinn

Tom Quinn — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:35:32 +0000

As Kelly notes, the Fox reporter was not 'waterboarded' in any way comparable to teh real thing, physically or psychologically. The Nance account at Smallwarsjournal has it right (he should know, he's a military expert): it's not simulated drowning, it's real (controlled) drowning. The Fox display was far from that; more like the kind of fraternity prank Rush Limbaugh would like us to believe is actual waterboarding. And I think you miss the point of whether our enemies will also torture. They always have, whether Nazis, the Japanese in WW2, or the north Vietnamese. The idea was that we were supposed to be better than that, a notion we're apparently now willing to give up. And now, for the first time, when our enemies subject captured GIs to this, we can hardly complain. After all, by our new standards, they're not being tortured at all. Don't you think there's a reason why only John McCain, among the GOP candidates, is adamantly set against this? Because he knows what torture is, and he also knows that it doesn't work.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:20:13 +0000

Please!! This is of no use. It makes a huge difference when you know who is waterboarding you and you know you can stop it at any time. The reporter gets to get up, dry off, and go home to his family. Waterboarding is torture and was condemned by the US government when it was used by other nations.

By: suek

suek — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:58:46 +0000

You're right. My granddaughter would consider it absolute torture if she were restrained and someone poured spiders all over her. Any kind of spiders.

There's physical torture and there's mental torture. Physical torture is probably definable – I don't think it's possible to define mental torture. Waterboarding is difficult to categorize – it's physical, but since there's no physical damage, it's really mental. We all have our boogeymen – being able to use someone's individual boogeyman is the key to mental "torture" – that's the whole thing about the muslim thing about women that was used. It's so absurd to call something like that torture.

And you know what's worse? I have no doubt whatsoever that those who are condemning torture in _any_ form, would not hesitate in the least to use it if it suited their purpose. They'd just redefine it…you know…like "re-education" programs.