Ray McGovern & Coleen Rowley: 'Justifying' Torture: Two Big Lies

[reprehensor]

'Justifying' Torture: Two Big Lies

By Coleen Rowley and Ray McGovern - July 19, 2008 - consortiumnews.com

One can assume that former Attorney General John Ashcroft didn’t mean it to be funny, but his testimony on Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee might strike one as hilarious, were it not for the issue at hand — torture.

Ashcroft is the Attorney General who approved torture before he disapproved it, but committee members spared him accusations of flip-flopping.

He explained that he initially blessed the infamous torture memoranda drafted by Justice Department lawyer John Yoo and others in mid-2002 because he (Ashcroft) believed it imperative to afford the President “the benefit of genuine doubt” regarding how to protect American lives in the “war on terror.”

But Ashcroft added that, despite this, when concerns about that earlier guidance for interrogations were brought to his attention, changing his mind “was not a hard decision for me.” A very flexible Attorney General.

“The benefit of genuine doubt?” Perhaps Ashcroft thought that this genteel way of looking at things would appeal to the poorly led, motley group calling itself the House Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan.

But the rest of us, whose time does not expire in five minutes, cannot buy his defense of torture. For it is based on two demonstrable lies...

Continued...
http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/2008/071808e.html

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[SalmonChantedEvening]

2. Your job was this, and nothing more:

To see that what was done in combatting terrorism was in accordance with the existing laws and treaties, and in line with Constitutional Protections we are all guaranteed.

You failed John.

Miserably.

[reprehensor]

6. Ashcroft - Jesselyn Radack and John Walker Lindh

Radack's story is ofter overlooked, very germane;
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/reprehensor/23

[annm4peace]

3. Come hear Rowley and McGovern during the RNC in MN

http://www.peaceisland.us/speakers/speakeri.html


and inbetween join all the other "educating events" in the twin cities while the Republicans are in town.

Stay till Sept 4th for the Finale.. "Peace Island Picnic" to make the biggest human peace sign as The Republicans crown McCain

[gratuitous]

4. But how will Jack Bauer catch the bad guys?

We'll be vulnerable to the terrorists if we can't torture bad guys. And we know they're bad guys because we're torturing them.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

5. Great article

thanks for posting this, reprehensor.

:kick:

[Tutonic]

7. Everyone needs to read this article.

[pberq]

8. The Real Reasons Behind Torture

http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/2008/071808e.html

. . .

The Real Reasons Behind Torture?

What, then, accounts for the descent into Inquisition practices of waterboarding and other torture techniques? What accounts for the bizarre decision to round up a whole bunch of people with no provable attachment to terrorism, designate them terrorist suspects, herd them into prisons in New York, New Jersey, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and God knows where else, where they could be — and were — abused?

What accounts for the blithe departure from international and national law — not to mention time-honored civilized procedures for dealing with prisoners and detainees?

What accounts for the marginalization of those military, FBI and other professionals who warned that torture is not only a war crime but also that it doesn’t yield reliable information — that, rather, it is the very best recruiting tool for terrorists?

We suggest four reasons why I-don’t-care-what-the-international-lawyers-say George Bush and dark-side Dick Cheney opted for torture:

1 -- Deceit . . .

2 -- Sadism. . .

3 -- Intimidation. . .

4 -- Because We Can . . .