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Does the U.S. Have a New, Kinder Image?
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has created a new vision of the United States of America. A softer, kinder, more loving picture has emerged. Humble, contrite and repentant of the past, this great country has fallen on its knees and admitted to past wrongdoing. It has gone against international ideology.
The wrongdoing has been admitted in the Democrat Senate Intelligence Committee Report, released by Feinstein who chaired the committee. The Republican government after Sept. 11, 2001, under President Bush, used Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. These, according to Feinsein, are against the basic values of the American people. She was speaking for every American.
Instead of treating enemy prisoners of war with compassion, the CIA had subjected them to torture. That this was done in an attempt to obtain crucial information necessary for the protection of the U.S. is considered no excuse.
No excuses have been accepted that on Sept. 11 there had been an outside attack aimed deliberately at the hearts of the military, financial, and governmental centers of the country. Such attacks are usually seen as an act of war, and the government and military intelligence of that time reacted as one would expect. Responsible for the defense and safety of the citizens of America, Enhanced Interrogation Techniques were used in an attempt to extract information that would protect the country and the lives of Americans.
Apparently the prisoners held by the CIA were subjected to the Five Techniques. These were developed by British security forces when dealing with the Irish Republican Army during the time of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Southern Ireland IRA were considered the enemy, as they were fighting against the continued alliance between Northern Ireland and Britain.
The Five Techniques are prolonged wall-standing (in uncomfortable positions), hooding, subjection to noise, deprivation of sleep, and deprivation of food and drink. The goal is to disorientate the enemy prisoner so that his defenses will be lowered, and he may give information of use to the “good guys.” Having seen these techniques applied in many films, we all have a good idea of what they’re like. Not a pretty picture, admittedly, but often it seems they are effective. They are especially effective if used with a “bad cop, good cop” routine. Even I know this from TV and films.
Since time immemorial there has been a problem with what to do with prisoners of war. No doubt the first wee homo primates had that problem, probably resolved by taking no prisoners. We don’t know what Homo Erectus, the Neanderthals, Cro-Magnon, Grimaldi, and any other homo primates around at that time, did, but probably the same. I have some Neanderthal DNA, so I can tell you for sure that Homo Sapiens interbred with their neighbors. Quite a thought that they might have interbred with prisoners of war. I couldn’t find a reference to the treatment of prisoners of war anywhere in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. But no doubt this was something that concerned the ancient Greeks. Without doubt the Romans had a similar challenge, and so on up through the ages.
Coming to closer times, in 1976, The European Commission of Human Rights ruled that the Five Techniques amounted to torture. In 1978, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that although the techniques were “inhuman and degrading” and breached the European Convention on Human Rights, they were not torture in the true sense of that word. In 1987, the United Nations Convention Against Torture, Article 1.1 appears to disagree with the Court and defines torture for us. Torture is, as follows: Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person, information or a confession…
Sensibilities are becoming ever more refined, and the highly-paid lawyers of the United Nations are constantly upgrading the International Law accordingly. Not being an international lawyer, I am not sure if that definition of torture is binding in any way, and if so, on whom.
These increased feelings among the people at the UN for the conduct of war are being felt by the military in the UK. Apparently interrogators are not allowed to shout in prisoners’ ears, or thump their arms or fists on the table. One has to realize that such actions might hurt the feelings of the prisoners of war. It is said that these antagonistic behaviors do not result in any useful information. The picture springs to mind of a English interrogator sitting down with an enemy prisoner of war over a tray of tea. He offers the prisoner a cup of tea, as he asks nicely for the highly crucial information that is needed. This kindly behavior will so impress the prisoner, that he will immediately give his interrogator whatever he needs to know. If this works, the CIA could do the same with cups of coffee.
We seem to be in the midst of a conflict between the idealists who believe in the ideologies of the United Nations versus the pragmatists who believe in reality. If it comes to following the pronouncements of the highly-paid priests (och, sorry about that!) lawyers of the United Nations, or dealing with the reality of needing vital facts such as names of enemies, to protect your country, about which would you prefer your government be concerned?
Published in General
DiFi only speaks for deluded democrats (which most are). I highly doubt that the majority of Americans find what happened to those nasties as being over the top.
I personally find that the techniques were, as you say, uncomfortable, but not torture. And what happened at Abu Ghraib was DEFINITELY NOT torture, despite the MSM saying so. But just saying so doesn’t make it real.
I believe all this has been a dedicated attack to defang the nation by a group of delusional mopes. Nothing they say, claim, want, or profess seems to have any relationship to reality.
Europe has long been on a road to extinction. If we go the same way, we too will be on that road.
1. To clarify, none of the people at Guantanamo or any of the black sites are prisoners of war. They are unlawful combatants. They have chosen to operate outside the strictures of the Law of Land Warfare and are not entitled to be treated as prisoners of war. Prisoners of war are due honorable treatment and can not be forced to do anything, other than remain in custody. For most purposes, they are entitled to the same rights and privileges as a soldier of the detaining power. This does not mean they can’t be punished for any violations of the laws of war. It does mean that any violation must be prosecuted through the standard military justice system of the detaining power.
2. Abhu Graib was prisoner abuse, plain and simple.
Outside of a few European college students, no one thinks of the US as kinder and gentler as a result of DiFi’s project, and I doubt even she ever believed it would. It is all about domestic moral positioning – she and her staff are simply better people than you or I.
What it does accomplish is to signal to our allies that we are no longer a serious ally for them, at least for the duration of Hope and Change.
I believe H & C already signaled that, way before DiFi. ?Remember his famous “I’ll have more flexibility after the election.” comment.
America’s new kinder, gentler image:
“She was speaking for every American.”
She was not speaking for me. My preferences for the jihadist after 9/11 are the Iron Maiden or The Rack. Either of those would be torture.
American citizens held in American prisons are subjected to beatings, rape, maiming, and even death at the hands of other prisoners. These events are actual torture, and the fact that the prison system permits these abuses, rather than directly perpetrating them, does not exculpate the prison officials. What’s more, prosecutors routinely use the threat of the death penalty to coerce confessions and plea bargains. If DiFi wants to wring her hands over our inhumanity, let her worry about these abuses against American citizens, rather than whether KSM got water up his nose.
If the whole reign of this Progressive administration hasn’t been a dedicated attack to defang the greatest country in the world, it certainly seems as if it has.
Thanks for the clarification! As unlawful combatants does that mean they were outside the international laws regarding the treatment of prisoners of war?
I find a few messages here, Derek. I’m not quite sure what you are saying.
And the ones before it.
Exactamundo! They are equivalent to spies, and there are no rules about treating spies, including summary execution without trial, etc.
I would agree about the moral positioning. As a pragmatist I am under no delusions about my own place in the scheme of things, and dislike people who think they are better than I am.
Could this Report be seen as a grave danger to the reputation of the United States as being a powerful nation that ought not to be underestimated by others?
Indeed! Who can forget H&C’s comment to Putin? Didn’t turn out quite as either of them thought it would, did it?
One the rest of the world can beat to get at the goodies?
Kay, you always make me laugh out loud!
I was reading that the Iron Maiden was apparently never used as an instrument of torture. Was it maybe used simply as a threat? The rack was used and was indeed torture as it broke the victim’s body. The Five Techniques don’t break the body.
This could be the subject of another post, Larry. I know nothing about prisons and thought these things happened when the guards weren’t around. On the other hand, on the few occasions when I gave this any consideration, I did wonder how they could happen if the prisoners were locked into cells.
And I suspect Feinstein hopes that it will be possible for the Inquisitors of the international ideology to whip and humiliate the US off the world stage (as long as she gets to keep the indulgences she has
earnedbeen paid).And her greatest pleasure would be for swarms of
tormentorslawyers to emerge from Turtle Bay, Brussels and The Hague to hunt down and punish beyond the full extent of the law one George W. Bush and one John Yoo.Got that? Sure, some peons may die, but the real tragedy here is that the Democrats are going to lose control.
Morally vacant.
Harry Reid has said he intends on being Majority Leader again, so the actions can’t be too drastic [as it may well happen and he is notoriously vindictive], but [bad person that I am] I wonder what the Senate equivalent is going to be of giving the outgoing Majority Leader wedgies.
Or giving them the choice to be burned alive or pushed out a 100 story window.
This.
It’s for domestic consumption and its point is political.
Here is a link to an article by George Friedman of Stratfor Global Intelligence that is worth reading. It was written about 5 years ago, but it sums the situation up well.
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090420_torture_and_u_s_intelligence_failure#axzz3MFUlo0Fd
She is one corrupt female dog, and would be in jail if she weren’t protected by her position. “Somehow” her husband won the contract to build the high speed railway in Moonbeam’s sunny California. She has zero moral authority and is nothing less than a traitor to the nation than has made her and her criminal husband filthy rich beyond their wildest imaginations. God help us all!
http://crazifornia.com/2013/04/16/dirty-business-as-usual-at-california-high-speed-rail/
I must do a little research into whether there are any rules yet for the treatment of spies. Those highly-paid lawyers in Brussels and New York have another lucrative course of legislation.
As a Canadian, and slightly more objective observer, what you are saying strikes me as too true. It raises all my Scottish Highland blood and I would offer my services to counteract such aggression against the United States of America. Feinstein presents such a false picture of the States she makes me furious.
Did I say I was an objective observer? I guess I lied.
Americans must be outraged by this report and Feinstein’s attitudes. I know I am!
You are now into the nitty-gritty of American politics, and I am fascinated. Also, I am aware of my ignorance which I ask you to excuse. I have to ask, what are “wedgies”?
I could add a few ideas myself, if I put my mind to it. Boiled in oil springs to mind, as a beginning! The Five Techniques pale by comparison.