Cheney Calls for full Release of Memos

[Chris]

Cheney is trying to keep from going to jail for authorizing torture.

He should go to jail.

On what charge?

Crissy are you speaking out of your ass again or do you have a specific charge that Cheney should be convicted of?

Fuck you, asshole.

Cheney admitted authorizing torture. That's a war crime.

 

[jreeves]

On what charge?

Crissy are you speaking out of your ass again or do you have a specific charge that Cheney should be convicted of?

Fuck you, asshole.

Cheney admitted authorizing torture. That's a war crime.

What specific crime, baseless jackass? Show me the quote where Cheney said "I authorized torture"?

 

[Chris]

Monday, outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney made a startling statement on a nation-wide, televised broadcast.

When asked by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl whether he approved of interrogation tactics used against a so-called "high value prisoner" at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, Mr. Cheney, in a break from his history of being press-shy, admitted to giving official sanctioning of torture.

"I supported it," he said regarding the practice known as "water-boarding," a form of simulated drowning. After World War II, Japanese soldiers were tried and convicted of war crimes in US courts for water-boarding, a practice which the outgoing Bush administration attempted to enshrine in policy.

"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," Cheney said. "And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it."

The Raw Story | Cheney admits authorizing detainee's torture

 

[jreeves]

Monday, outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney made a startling statement on a nation-wide, televised broadcast.

When asked by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl whether he approved of interrogation tactics used against a so-called "high value prisoner" at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison, Mr. Cheney, in a break from his history of being press-shy, admitted to giving official sanctioning of torture.

"I supported it," he said regarding the practice known as "water-boarding," a form of simulated drowning. After World War II, Japanese soldiers were tried and convicted of war crimes in US courts for water-boarding, a practice which the outgoing Bush administration attempted to enshrine in policy.

"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," Cheney said. "And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it."

The Raw Story | Cheney admits authorizing detainee's torture

He supported waterboarding dipshit, that's not torture. So the Navy tortures its own recruits?

 

[Chris]

A newly declassified narrative of the Bush administration's advice to the CIA on harsh interrogations shows that the small group of Justice Department lawyers who wrote memos authorizing controversial interrogation techniques were operating not on their own but with direction from top administration officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

At the same time, the narrative suggests that then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell were largely left out of the decision-making process.

Cheney, Rice signed off on interrogation techniques, document reveals - Kansas City Star

 

[Chris]

Waterboarding is a form of torture[1][2] that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die.[3] It is considered a form of torture by legal experts,[4][5] politicians, war veterans,[6][7] intelligence officials,[8] military judges,[9] and human rights organizations.[10][11] As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.[12]

Waterboarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[jreeves]

A newly declassified narrative of the Bush administration's advice to the CIA on harsh interrogations shows that the small group of Justice Department lawyers who wrote memos authorizing controversial interrogation techniques were operating not on their own but with direction from top administration officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

At the same time, the narrative suggests that then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell were largely left out of the decision-making process.

Cheney, Rice signed off on interrogation techniques, document reveals - Kansas City Star

Like I said not torture dipshit. Torture is pulling fingernails, pouring salt into cuts....etc....

Having medical personnel in the room to prevent permanent injury, is not torture.

 

[Annie]

While the meme of waterboarding and who did what, the mass media totally ignores what is going on with banks and financial entities.

 

[jreeves]

Waterboarding is a form of torture[1][2] that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die.[3] It is considered a form of torture by legal experts,[4][5] politicians, war veterans,[6][7] intelligence officials,[8] military judges,[9] and human rights organizations.[10][11] As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.[12]

Waterboarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So the Navy tortures its own people?

 

[Sinatra]

While the meme of waterboarding and who did what, the mass media totally ignores what is going on with banks and financial entities.

Bingo.

 

[jreeves]

Waterboarding is a form of torture[1][2] that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die.[3] It is considered a form of torture by legal experts,[4][5] politicians, war veterans,[6][7] intelligence officials,[8] military judges,[9] and human rights organizations.[10][11] As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.[12]

Waterboarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hey dipshit from your same post...
Waterboarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Subsequently, the United States government released a memorandum written in 2002 by the Office of Legal Counsel that came to the conclusion that waterboarding did not constitute torture and could be used to interrogate subjects. The OLC reasoned that "in order for pain or suffering to rise to the level of torture, the statute requires that it be severe" and that waterboarding did not cause severe pain or suffering either physically or mentally.

As we understand it, when the waterboard is used, the subject's body responds as if the subject were drowning -- even though the subject may be well aware that he is in fact not drowning. You have informed us that this procedure does not inflict actual physical harm. Thus, although the subject may experience the fear or panic associated with the feeling of drowning, the waterboard does not inflict physical pain. as we explained in the Section 2340A Memorandum, "pain and suffering" as used in Section 2340 is best understood as a single concept, not distinct concepts of "pain" as distinguished from "suffering"… The waterboard, which inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever, does not, in our view, inflict "severe pain and suffering". Even if one were to parse the stature more "finely" to attempt to treat suffering as a distinct concept, the waterboard could not be said to inflict severe suffering. The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering… We find the use of the waterboard constitutes a threat of imminent death… Although the procedure will be monitored by personnel with medical training and extensive SERE school experience with this procedure who will ensure the subject's mental and physical safety, the subject is not aware of any of these precautions. From the vantage point of any reasonable person undergoing this procedure in such circumstances, he would feel as if he is drowning at the very moment of the procedure due to the uncontrollable physiological sensation he is experiencing. Thus, this procedure cannot be viewed as too uncertain to satisfy the imminence requirement. Accordingly, it constitutes a threat of imminent death and fulfills the predicate act requirement under the statute. Although the waterboard constitutes the real threat of imminent death, prolonged mental harm must nonetheless result to violate the statutory prohibition on infliction of severe mental pain or suffering… We have previously concluded that prolonged mental harm is mental harm of some lasting duration, eg, mental harm lasting months or years.Based on your research into the use of these methods at the SERE school and consultation with others with expertise in the field of psychology and interrogation, you do not anticipate that any prolonged mental harm would result from the use of the waterboard… In the absense of prolonged mental harm,no severe mental pain or suffering would have been inflicted, and the use of these procedures would not constitute torture within the meaning of the statute.[39]

 

[jreeves]

Waterboarding is a form of torture[1][2] that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die.[3] It is considered a form of torture by legal experts,[4][5] politicians, war veterans,[6][7] intelligence officials,[8] military judges,[9] and human rights organizations.[10][11] As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.[12]

Waterboarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Waterboarding Historically Controversial - washingtonpost.com
A CIA interrogation training manual declassified 12 years ago, "KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation -- July 1963," outlined a procedure similar to waterboarding. Subjects were suspended in tanks of water wearing blackout masks that allowed for breathing. Within hours, the subjects felt tension and so-called environmental anxiety. "Providing relief for growing discomfort, the questioner assumes a benevolent role," the manual states.

Where was the outrage then?
Oh that's right Kennedy was President then....

 

[ABikerSailor]

Waterboarding is a form of torture[1][2] that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die.[3] It is considered a form of torture by legal experts,[4][5] politicians, war veterans,[6][7] intelligence officials,[8] military judges,[9] and human rights organizations.[10][11] As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.[12]

Waterboarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So the Navy tortures its own people?

Hey fuckstick......where the hell do you get off saying that the Navy waterboards it's own people? They don't. The only group that would end up going through something like that would be a SEAL, and, they would be doing it to learn how to RESIST TORTURE.

It's obvious that you are a fucking civilian who has never served, otherwise you wouldn't have made such a stupid statement.

Go back to reading Tom Clancy novels, and leave the military to those that actually know something about it.

Ya penis puffing asshole motherfucker.

 

[American Horse]

[H]ere's a link to the full Justice Dept Memos in PDF Form

Connecting the Dots:

"Your intelligence indicates that there is currently a level of 'chatter' equal to that which preceded the September 11 attacks," wrote Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, in his August 1, 2002 memo. "In light of the information you believe [detainee Abu] Zubaydah has and the high level of threat you believe now exists, you wish to move the interrogations into what you have described as an 'increased pressure phase.' "

So the CIA requests a legal review at a moment of heightened danger, the Justice Department obliges with an exceedingly detailed analysis (see the link quoted above) of the law and interrogation practices.

Congressional leaders from both parties and both houses review the documents, and if they find them wanting, it's because they believe they might not be sufficient to get the information we need to save American lives.

Now seven years later, Mr. Obama says only the legal advisers who are no longer in government should be investigated. The political convenience of this distinction for Mr. Obama betrays its basic injustice. And by the way, everyone agrees that senior officials, including President Bush, approved these interrogations. Is this President going to put his predecessor in the dock too?

George Tenet (who served as CIA director under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton) on CBS's "60 Minutes" in April 2007 on enhanced interrogation methods:

"I know this program alone is worth more than the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us."
.

 

[Iriemon]

Connecting the Dots:

...
Congressional leaders from both parties and both houses review the documents, and if they find them wanting, it's because they believe they might not be sufficient to get the information we need to save American lives.
...

Source for this assertion?

 

[American Horse]

Connecting the Dots:

...
Congressional leaders from both parties and both houses reviewed the documents, and if they find them wanting, it's because they believe they might not be sufficient to get the information we need to save American lives.
...

Source for this assertion?

Let's go straight to the most recent source and a first hand participant:

PETER HOEKSTRA – WSJ April 23, 2009
Congress Knew About the Interrogations - WSJ.com
(here are two specific paragraphs on the subject)

“It was not necessary to release details of the enhanced interrogation techniques, because members of Congress from both parties have been fully aware of them since the program began in 2002. We believed it was something that had to be done in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to keep our nation safe. After many long and contentious debates, Congress repeatedly approved and funded this program on a bipartisan basis in both Republican and Democratic Congresses.”

“Those officials won't be the only ones who suffer if all of this goes forward. Congress will face questions about what the Members knew and when, especially Nancy Pelosi when she was on the House Intelligence Committee in 2002. The Speaker now says she remembers hearing about waterboarding, though not that it would actually be used. Does anyone believe that? Porter Goss, her GOP counterpart at the time, says he knew exactly what he was hearing and that, if anything, Ms. Pelosi worried the CIA wasn't doing enough to stop another attack. By all means, put her under oath.”

(Peter Hoekstra, the author of these statements, and Porter Goss were there in the briefing rooms when other members read and commented on these memo’s and know first hand. Hoekstra is calling for release of the names of attendees, dates, times, and other information pertaining to these briefings to the public)

.

 

[catzmeow]

so you support an investigation against pelosi too.....right

To be 100% clear, I support an investigation against ANYONE who was involved in authorizing the use of torture as an SOP.

 

[catzmeow]

So the Navy tortures its own people?

SERE training is designed to help Naval pilots prepare for the consequences of becoming a POW.

 

[Iriemon]

Connecting the Dots:

...
Congressional leaders from both parties and both houses reviewed the documents, and if they find them wanting, it's because they believe they might not be sufficient to get the information we need to save American lives.
...

Source for this assertion?

Let's go straight to the most recent source and a first hand participant:

PETER HOEKSTRA – WSJ April 23, 2009
Congress Knew About the Interrogations - WSJ.com
(here are two specific paragraphs on the subject)

“It was not necessary to release details of the enhanced interrogation techniques, because members of Congress from both parties have been fully aware of them since the program began in 2002. We believed it was something that had to be done in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to keep our nation safe. After many long and contentious debates, Congress repeatedly approved and funded this program on a bipartisan basis in both Republican and Democratic Congresses.”

“Those officials won't be the only ones who suffer if all of this goes forward. Congress will face questions about what the Members knew and when, especially Nancy Pelosi when she was on the House Intelligence Committee in 2002. The Speaker now says she remembers hearing about waterboarding, though not that it would actually be used. Does anyone believe that? Porter Goss, her GOP counterpart at the time, says he knew exactly what he was hearing and that, if anything, Ms. Pelosi worried the CIA wasn't doing enough to stop another attack. By all means, put her under oath.”

(Peter Hoekstra, the author of these statements, and Porter Goss were there in the briefing rooms when other members read and commented on these memo’s and know first hand. Hoekstra is calling for release of the names of attendees, dates, times, and other information pertaining to these briefings to the public)

.

Thanks

This piece by Hostra asserts "Congress knew" that prisoners were being waterboarded with scant details as to who knew what or how. It's a bit inconsistent in that it says "It was not necessary to release details of the enhanced interrogation techniques," and "I have asked Mr. Blair to provide me with a list of the dates, locations and names of all members of Congress who attended briefings on enhanced interrogation techniques."

That is not saying all of Congress knew, or that that members of Congress received the memos and approved them, or were aware of the actually activities being done. If selected Congress members were briefed, did the brief indicate that the CIA was going to be waterboarding prisioners? The article is not clear on these details.

Saying "Congress knew" based on this piece is a bit of a stretch, IMO. If in fact there were members of Congress who knew the CIA was waterboarding prisoners and approved that, I'd want that investigated also.

 

[Steerpike]

I agree with him. If it's enough to make a fuss about then we should know everything. The good and the bad and the ugly. Including what Congress knew and when they knew it.

Well, this is a good thread to see who some of the purely partisan hacks are, and who is principled.

If anything, liberals / progressives should be as adamant as anyone that all of these get released. Who is requesting it is completely irrelevant. We either want open, transparent government or we don't.

These should all be released.