Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., defended his “no” vote on a bill establishing clear anti-torture standards (it passed 90-9) by telling The Eagle editorial board that he was protecting a good source of intelligence as well as supporting the troops. The bill, he argued, was a “public vote of no confidence in our servicemen and women.”
He’s got it backward. Roberts should listen to Army Capt. Ian Fishback, the West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran who last month sent an eloquent letter to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., stressing that soldiers aren’t getting clear guidelines on torture and are thus being made scapegoats.
He also maintains that the Army is covering up widespread abuse of prisoners.
Roberts isn’t helping the average grunt with his vote — he’s putting them at risk. As for intelligence gathering: Many experts say that torture rarely produces dependable information anyway.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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12 Comments
Bush’s new name: ” The Worst thing That Ever Happened”…..”TWTTEH”
And by the thoughts of Sen. Pat Roberts, It’s contagious
Ed’s old name: whatajerk (WAJ)
Clintons new name:President who made hummers famous (pmwmhj)Dumb as Ed, huh?
Joe C,Don’t know what rock you’ve been hiding under, but hummers were well established long before Clinton was in office.It’s time to let go of the hate. Ole’ Bill has been out of office for over 5 years now.Get a life.
I love seeing conservatives crap their pants every time you mention Clinton.DON’T get over it.
When folks start talking about torture, Joe C’s mind goes to hummers.
Co-inkydink? You be the judge.
How can anyone justify the torture of prisoners? Isn’t that one of the excuses we used to invade Iraq, to free people who were living under a brutal dictator who tortured his citizens? Why was it wrong when Saddam used torture techniques, but it’s Ok for our military to do so? I’m amazed at the Bush devotees who rationalize and justify the military’s use of torture “in order to gather information”. The hypocrisy of it all absolutely floors me!! If the US doesn’t hold itself to a higher standard, then we’re no better than the terrorists we seek to destroy and everything we stand for is a lie.
Torture is a notoriously unreliable way of obtaining information. How many people in the Middle Ages confessed to being witches or possessed based on torture? More recently, both Nazi Germany and Stalinist USSR put on show trials of opponents, who were ultimately executed, based on their “confessions”.
If you really want to get information from al-Quaida detainees, give them $2 million, and access to all the booze, women, and sheep their hearts desire.
Seriously, you must bring about in them a change in mental attitude through “penitence” in a “penitentiary”. I don’t mean a physical prison. I mean a prison where their consciences are exposed unremittingly to the horrors of their philosophies..perhaps a hospital ward for the children or elderly wounded in terrorist attacks.
“Why was it wrong when Saddam used torture techniques, but it’s Ok for our military to do so?”
The difference is that Sadam was a brutal dictator who oppressed his people and violated the very concepts of a freedom.
Our military is commanded by G.W. Bush the President of the the United States of America. A country that has long held the belief that all people should live free and without the fear of oppression. Otherwise, hell I don’t know!
I sure hope the Captain doesn’t have relatives who can be retaliated against.
Sen. Roberts = Old Rubber Stamp
R.D. Seems to me that, like Saddam, Bush is doing a pretty good job of “violating the concepts of freedom”, also.How can we be critical of human rights abuses that go on in other countries, but look the other way when our military is guilty of the same?