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'Waterboarding is torture,' says Obama

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TheDemSocialist

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During a Saturday debate among the Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina, businessman Herman Cain and U.S. congresswoman Michele Bachmann backed the use of waterboarding."They're wrong. Waterboarding is torture," Obama said. "Anybody who has actually read about and understands the practice of waterboarding would say that that is torture. And that's not something we do -- period."[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]The United States used waterboarding on some foreign terrorism suspects under former President George W. Bush, a Republican. During the Republican debate, congressman Ron Paul and former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman opposed waterboarding as torture.[/FONT]

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[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Read full article here: [/FONT]'Waterboarding is torture,' says Obama - CSMonitor.com
[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Is this a campaign stunt to gain support? Yes. Do i agree with what he has to say about water boarding? Absolutely. I also believe it is torture..[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thoughts?[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Comments?[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Response? [/FONT]


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how in the world is Obama saying that waterboarding is torture breaking news?
 
Let's see if he tries to put a stop to it... I hope so, but I doubt it.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
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Read full article here: 'Waterboarding is torture,' says Obama - CSMonitor.com
Is this a campaign stunt to gain support? Yes. Do i agree with what he has to say about water boarding? Absolutely. I also believe it is torture..

Thoughts?
Comments?
Response?


[/LEFT]
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Waterboarding is not torture. It is a technique that I don't think the military should use on combatants who fall under US law or the Geneva conventions. However, the Geneva Conventions do not apply to non-uniformed enemy combatants except in the case where they are members of a peaceful nation/organization that has been quickly invaded and they have not had a chance to form an army/militia with rank and identifying uniform. That is not the case with Al Qaida. Human decency is what guides our treatment of captured terrorists, not any laws or conventions. And I do not believe that pouring water on an illegal terrorist's face in order to save thousands of innocent lives is beyond the scope of American human decency. It certainly is not beyond precedent. In WWII we would hang non-uniformed enemy combatants with nothing more than a military trial.
 
cpwill said:
how in the world is Obama saying that waterboarding is torture breaking news?
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I do believe this is old news. Do you think Cain heard it? :coffeepap
 
friday said:
Waterboarding is not torture. It is a technique that I don't think the military should use on combatants who fall under US law or the Geneva conventions. However, the Geneva Conventions do not apply to non-uniformed enemy combatants except in the case where they are members of a peaceful nation/organization that has been quickly invaded and they have not had a chance to form an army/militia with rank and identifying uniform. That is not the case with Al Qaida. Human decency is what guides our treatment of captured terrorists, not any laws or conventions. And I do not believe that pouring water on an illegal terrorist's face in order to save thousands of innocent lives is beyond the scope of American human decency. It certainly is not beyond precedent. In WWII we would hang non-uniformed enemy combatants with nothing more than a military trial.
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No,it's torture. You also set up a false dilema. There is really no ticking bomb senario that is likley, and torture is unlikely to be effective. If you reall do need information, it would be beter to use tactics that actually work.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
[/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Read full article here: [/FONT]'Waterboarding is torture,' says Obama - CSMonitor.com
[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Is this a campaign stunt to gain support? Yes. Do i agree with what he has to say about water boarding? Absolutely. I also believe it is torture..[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thoughts?[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Comments?[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Response? [/FONT]


[/LEFT]
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Has Obama issued an Executive Order stopping the use of waterboarding on our own troops during SERE training?

If not, why not? Surely we don't torture our own soldiers?


(/irony)
 
Goshin said:
Has Obama issued an Executive Order stopping the use of waterboarding on our own troops during SERE training?

If not, why not? Surely we don't torture our own soldiers?


(/irony)
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Quit pretending those are the same thing. Even those who started and run SERE say they are not the same.

And remember, SERE is largely to get you prepared for torture.
 
Goshin said:
Has Obama issued an Executive Order stopping the use of waterboarding on our own troops during SERE training?

If not, why not? Surely we don't torture our own soldiers?


(/irony)
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The soldiers are in theory agreeing to waterboarding.
 
Jryan said:
The soldiers are in theory agreeing to waterboarding.
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Ah. So if you implicitly agree to be tortured, it's okay. Got it.
 
Bottom line: If we need to water board, we will.
 
Waterboarding is off limits, drone strikes are much more compassionate.
 
Goshin said:
Ah. So if you implicitly agree to be tortured, it's okay. Got it.
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No, something watered down with no real fear of it going too far. That makes it very different.
 
Hare said:
Waterboarding is off limits, drone strikes are much more compassionate.
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When it hits civilians, quite wrong. But another wrong would in no way make torture OK.
 
Boo Radley said:
No, something watered down with no real fear of it going too far. That makes it very different.
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Yeah, except now with the new rules, the likely hood of those that could have been captured and given useful intel, will just be killed.

j-mac
 
j-mac said:
Yeah, except now with the new rules, the likely hood of those that could have been captured and given useful intel, will just be killed.

j-mac
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The problem is we water board innocent people.
 
Jryan said:
The problem is we water board innocent people.
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Really? KSM was innocent? What innocent people have been waterboarded? And be sure to include your proof of claim please, I do not take your word for it.

j-mac
 
j-mac said:
Yeah, except now with the new rules, the likely hood of those that could have been captured and given useful intel, will just be killed.

j-mac
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Not true. Seriously. it isn't. The fact remains there are far more effective methods. If you want real intel, better to use the most effective methods.

Oh, and as noted above, we have tortured innocent people, and there is little way to prevent that from never happening. To protect the innocent, you do have to have rules that include everyone.
 
j-mac said:
Really? KSM was innocent? What innocent people have been waterboarded? And be sure to include your proof of claim please, I do not take your word for it.

j-mac
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J, I linked these for you years ago. We have tortured innocent people. A couple died. I don't have time now, but if your memory is really that bad, I'll look it for you again later.
 
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