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In light of the recent GOP debate on International Policy, I wanted to take a slight break from economic policy to discuss torture.
I know it is amazing to me, but in 2011 America, somebody has to stand up against torture as an instrument of foreign policy. But somebody does, and I think it should be military people who do. So being a veteran, and being somebody who believes that the Democrats need to be strong on foreign policy, I think it is even more important to stand up against torture, especially torture in the form of "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Even military people know that might is not always right. Sometimes being strong is simply wrong, especially when the purported means of being strong is being uninformed by using means and methods that are immoral, illegal, and ineffective. As someone who has been waterboarded, I can testify it is both ineffective and constitutes torture.
In case you did not see it, in the GOP debate last night, GOP candidates Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum all came out in favor of waterboarding and/or enhanced interrogation techniques.
GOP Debate Statements in Favor of Waterboarding
- Michelle Bachman: Waterboarding is "very effective" and "[i]t gained information for our country."
- Herman Cain: Against torture, but does not consider waterboarding torture.
- Rick Perry: stated that Enhanced interrogation techniques "save young American lives. This is war. That's what happens in war. "
- Rick Santorum: Enhanced techniques had been successful in gathering information, and "critical" in the war against terror.
Not surprisingly, Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman came out against waterboarding and other forms of torture (and Romney avoided taking a position on the issue).
But more importantly the statements by Perry, Bachmann, Cain and Santorum are all demonstrably false.
Indeed, while as a Christian I oppose these policies because they are immoral, as believer in personal liberty I oppose these police because they are so dehumanizing that they corrupt the foundation of our national government's foundation for governing, but equally as important, as a military man I am opposed to these policies because they simply do not work - except to provide false information.
Specifically, both GOP Senator John McCain and CIA Director Leon Pentta have made it clear that the use of waterboarding was not successful , and had not assisted the war of terror in capturing Al Qaida or stopping terror in its tracks." Indeed, waterboarding "produced false information" according to GOP Senator McCain.
The fact is that waterboarding was not invented to gather good information. Rather waterboarding was invented to break the will of prisoners. Waterboarding goes all the way back to the Spanish Inquisition. Any student of interrogation techniques will tell you that waterboarding simply does not work at providing valid intelligence information.
For example, contrary to GOP exaggerations, waterboarding did not work did not work against al Qaida terrorists, and waterboarding simply does not work against anybody.
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