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Jewish World Review
May 7, 2009
/ 13 Iyar 5769
Questioning Terrorists With Compassion
By
Larry Elder
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"I am absolutely convinced (banning waterboarding) was the right thing
to do," said President Obama at a recent press conference, "not because
there might not have been information that was yielded by these various
detainees who were subjected to this treatment, but because we could
have gotten this information in other ways (emphasis added), in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways
that were consistent with who we are."
Once upon a time, critics of the Bush administration's alleged used of
"torture" often argue that it simply does not work. House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, for example, once said, "Experts agree that you do not obtain
reliable intelligence through using these tactics and you diminish our
reputation in the world, which hurts the cooperation we need to collect
the intelligence we need to protect the American people."
Over the objection of his CIA director, the President publicly released
the so-called torture memos. They described the allegedly abusive
interrogation techniques used by the Bush administration. But the
President's national intelligence director, Adm. Dennis Blair, recently
wrote a memo to his staff. "High value information," he wrote, "came
from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a
deeper understanding of the al Qaida organization that was attacking
this country." When Blair's memo was released, that quote had been
deleted.
The Blair memo also said, "I like to think I would not have approved
those methods in the past, but I do not fault those who made
the decisions at that time (emphasis added), and I will
absolutely defend those who carried out the interrogations within the
orders they were given." Not exactly string 'em up, trial to follow. The
document release also deleted that quote.
The CIA recently said it stands by a 2005 Justice Department memo on
"enhanced interrogation" techniques including waterboarding used
on al-Qaida leader and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, which caused him to reveal information that allowed the
government to thwart another attack. This 9/11-style attack called
the "second wave" planned to crash a hijacked plane into a building
in Los Angeles.
Former Clinton administration Deputy Attorney General and current
Attorney General Eric Holder, in a 2002 interview, said, "One of the
things we clearly want to do with these prisoners is to have an ability
to interrogate them and find out what their future plans might be, where
other cells are located." The Geneva Conventions, Holder noted, place
restrictions on interrogations. Holder argued that if we want our own
prisoners treated well, we should treat the detainees humanely and in a
manner consistent with the Geneva Conventions. But he pointed out, "It
seems to me that given the way in which (these terrorists) have
conducted themselves, however, that they are not, in fact, people
entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention. They are not
prisoners of war."
Who said the following?
"Although I am personally opposed to the use of torture, I have no doubt
that any president indeed any leader of a democratic nation would
in fact authorize some forms of torture against a captured terrorist if
he believed that this was the only way of securing information necessary
to prevent an imminent mass casualty attack." Alan Dershowitz, op-ed
piece in The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 7, 2007.
Who said the following?
"Every one of us can imagine the following scenario: We get lucky; we
get the No. 3 guy in al-Qaida, and we know there's a big bomb going off
in America in three days and this guy knows where it is. We have the
right and the responsibility to beat it out of him." former President
Bill Clinton, Sept. 24, 2006.
Obama, after conceding that the "enhanced interrogation" techniques
produced valuable and perhaps lifesaving intel, says we could have
gotten it in other ways. Such as…?
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Make the terrorist stand on one leg for 4 1/2 hours and sing, in
Farsi, "Do the Hokey Pokey."
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Tell the terrorist that Dick Cheney just flew into Pakistan for a
little bird hunting.
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Tell the terrorist that Osama bin Laden decided to pack it in, hired
the William Morris Agency and plans to host a reality show called
"Dancing With the Mullahs."
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Tell him that Osama bin Laden's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, has converted
to Judaism.
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Threaten to give him two front-row tickets to a Los Angeles Clippers
basketball game.
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Paste on the terrorist's prison cell ceiling a Photoshopped picture of
Helen Thomas in a thong bikini.
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Tell him that Cat Stevens has returned to Christianity and that Flavor
Flav has become a Muslim.
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Make him sit through an entire Joe Biden speech.
The campaign and election ended. Obama won. He serves as commander in
chief in the real world. If a terrorist refuses to divulge information
that could save hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives,
what, pray tell, "other way" does the President envision?
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Larry Elder is the author of, most recently, "Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card--and Lose."
(Proceeds from sales help fund JWR) Let him know what you think of his column by clicking here.
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© 2006, Creators Syndicate
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