Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The (One Hundred and Eighty) 3rd Time’s the Charm

One of the details that has come out of the recently released White House “torture” memos is the revelation that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (still in U.S. custody) was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003 (which works out to an average of 6 times a day – every day – for the entire month).

Forget for a moment that this in itself is probably the best evidence you could ever put forth if you were trying to prove the complete ineffectiveness of waterboarding. What is even more insane to me is the kind of rationale that would have ever considered it to be a good idea in the first place. I mean, how does this conversation go?

CIA Interrogator #1: “Well, that was disappointing.”

CIA Interrogator #2: “Sure was. I really thought we had him that time.”

CIA #1: - - heavy sigh - -

CIA #2: “So, what do you say? One more time? It’d really be a shame to stop now after 182 only to find out later that the next one would’ve been the mother lode.”

CIA #1: [nodding] “Yeah. Yeah, I think you’re right. One more might just do the trick."


Nothing says “Home of the Brave” like torture.

4 comments:

PackMatt73 said...

genius...such a great visual...

makes me think of the sheepdog and wolf in the Looney Tunes

Kimberline said...

I think that this is all coming out to take attention away from what is NOT happening that was promised in this present administration. Hard as they try to spin it, things are not getting better. There has been a continual effort to make the former administration look bad. I'm fairly certain the new administration is still allowing torture, but of course we won't know until the next regime -ah I mean political changeover happens. Each groups keeps their own secrets.

While I think torture is fundamentally wrong because I adhere to a strict understanding of treating human beings in the way you would want to be treated, I do still find it ironic that people (especially the liberal types) are so up in arms that this POOR terrorist was subjected to torture while this country just allowed a criminal abortionist to essentially go free. This abortionist kills babies just prior to delivering their heads. He even was in collusion with another doctor to make sure those pregnant women got that required 2nd opinion that having a live baby would be damaging to their health.

People...this administration is making sure that it is legal to suck the brains out of infant humans so they are "born" dead because they just simply must not be born "alive." Let's save our strongest indignation for the INNOCENT first. I heard a comment that perhaps we should put terrorists to death after a fair but speedy trial...and then harvest their stem cells. Gee, think about it. Would that EVER happen? No. But it is ok in our country to create living human beings for the purpose of murdering them to harvest their cells. Organs of aborted fetuses are harvested in this country, too. Cell lines from these murdered children are used to make the vaccines they want to inject into our living children.

I guess for me it comes down to one essential difference in the US at this present time. It is ok to kill the innocent. It is a war crime somehow to try to extract possible lifesaving information out of a terrorist if it makes them "uncomfortable." We must be VERY nice to our enemies!

I think deflecting attention from innocent preborn humans serves this present administration...the most pro-abortion group in our history... very well, don't you? Let's take attention away from innocents being slaughtered while they push Gov. Kathleen Sibelius through to hold a VERY influential government job that will assure increasing abortion rights. 17 years olds now can get plan B at the pharmacy. If that doesn't work to end the pregnancy, they can abort at any time during the pregnancy right up until birth. But oh my goodness! Don't water board a TERRORIST! Rip a preborn child limb from limb or inject it with chemicals that burn it alive, or suck it's brains out, but my goodness, let's not try to force information from terrorists!

While I agree that the cruelty in this case of water boarding showed something about human nature that is quite frightening, even if the men doing this torture thought they were the "good guys!", I have a hard time mustering as much outrage over it when I think that is hits the news at a fortuitous time. I'm not sure I even BELIEVE the numbers linked to it any longer. I'm not sure I believe much of ANYTHING reported in the news any longer. It was geared to create outrage and lately when news is given that sway I have to ask, "What are they trying to draw our attention from?"

Maybe the new tactic to get hardened terrorists to lighten up and "talk" would be to have Obama come chat them up, smile at them, trade jokes and pleasantries, then pat them on the shoulder, or maybe he can bow over from the waist to honor them while he takes their hands at their first introduction. Oh right, that is only for terrorist LEADERS of other countries. Sorry for the confusion.

I guess I am getting battle weary.

K Dixon

Blaine Staat said...

Thanks for putting that back in perspective for me. What is the body count now since Roe v. Wade? 50 million? I can't even comprehend that number. 50 million lives reduced to a meaningless statistic that we can toss around in converstation as if it were no more important than who got voted off American Idol this week.

For anyone who thinks abortion is okay, please watch the video "Hard Truth". It's only about 10 minutes long, but it will show you the reality of what abortion is all about. Watch it first; then make your decision.

Kimberline said...

Blaine,

Thank you for not feeling I was trying to make light of torture. Just that word conjures visions of what a preborn child suffers during abortion. I shouldn't make any distinction between the WRONGNESS of torturing any person. It is always wrong. I've just become so angry lately at the outpouring of compassion for the suffering of a known terrorist receiving a LOT of press time, when thousands of babies in the womb are murdered after being tortured each and every day.

We are being pressured to have such great compassion for someone who has acted in an inhumane way and by some respects may be thought to be reaping his just desserts. Meanwhile the present administration denies value and humanness of the preborn child.

The disparity is breaking my heart. I feel my frustration made me too harsh with my first post. Lately I have no place to vent all these mounting concerns. Thanks for not taking offense by my post. I didn't intend in any way to make light of your topic.

I recently received an email forward in the mail "reminding everyone to not forget the Jewish Holocaust" so that it would "never occur again." I bawled my eyes out because I had just experienced a miscarriage and the value of a lost but much wanted child was heavy on my mind. We are LIVING in the largest holocaust of all time and those who would want us to remember the Jews so easily have forgotten the lives lost to abortion. It is just a HIDDEN holocaust and people seem to be content to keep it that way. Out of sight, out of mind. Don't give it too much thought and it won't keep you awake at night.

I appreciate your blog and your insights very much. Keep up the good work.

K. Dixon