Yesterday, we primarily discussed the method of how to properly waterboard a victim whilst analyzing the morality and legality of the practice. Today I want to talk about the first known examples of waterboarding, the lasting effects of being subjected to it and how the Bush Administration addresses the issue. Tomorrow in Part III, I will conclude this torture trilogy by including some of your thoughts and comments on the art of waterboarding. If you would like to express your opinion, please email me at veritas227@gmail.com. Just include your first name and maybe I'll include it in tomorrow's posting. But first things first.
The first recorded use of waterboarding occurred during the Spanish Inquisition in the 1500s on people suspected of holding Jewish, Protestant or other heretic beliefs. Yesterday I wrote about how the Japanese military tortured allied prisoners during World War II. Not to be outdone when it came to subhuman torture, the Nazis also subscribed to the practice as well while attempting to elicit secret information from recently captured prisoners. The Khmer Rouge employed waterboarding during its reign of terror in Cambodia. This form of torture was widely unknown, however, until the Bush administration authorized CIA interrogators to use the technique as one of several "enhanced interrogation techniques" for individuals classified as enemy combatants during Bush's jihad on Muslim terrorism. Many of the recent victims of this practice happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and virtually no proof even exists these captives are terrorists. They were rounded up off the streets and relocated to top secret sights in Europe and Guantanamo in Cuba. They have been tortured and held in direct violation of Habeas Corpus for years without being officially charged with any crime or having access to an attorney.
MENTAL PATIENTS OFTEN ENJOY FRESH KITTY FOR LUNCHEON
Most doctors agree the bulk of any long term damage from waterboarding is primarily psychological. Dr. Allen Keller of Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City recently testified before Congress that victims of waterboarding are so traumatized they continue to have nightmares, depression and panic attacks years later. According to Keller, one patient told him that he was unable to take showers and suffered panic attacks every time it rained. The fear of being killed is a terrifying experience, according to Dr. Keller. These methods are intended to break the prisoners down, to terrify them and cause harm to their psyche, thereby resulting in lasting and harmful health consequences. I don't know about you but I have to believe this is not the best method available in order to gather truthful information from one's enemy. As stated yesterday, prisoners in this state will say anything they think you want them to say in order for the torture to stop. The probability that the statement obtained under these circumstances comes close to resembling the truth is very low indeed.
THEIR RECIPES INCLUDE 50 YUMMY MEALS THAT GO WITH WATERBOARDING
Knowing this, it makes you wonder what kind of spineless moron would condone and approve of this ineffective and cruel method of gathering information. The Bush Administration, at least publicly, refuses to say anything about waterboarding. But in 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that all prisoners in US captivity must be treated according to the Geneva conventions. In July, George W. Bush signed an executive order barring humiliating and degrading treatment that any "reasonable person" would deem beyond the bounds of human decency. The CIA had stopped waterboarding months earlier and no longer uses the technique, according to unnamed government officials quoted in several recent newspaper stories. Still, the administration won't say publicly that waterboarding has been banned, allegedly on the grounds that it doesn't want terrorists to know what to expect if they are captured. A recent survey indicated that approximately 90% of all worldwide terrorists are regular subscribers to the New York Times.
The U.S. Senate recently confirmed the nomination of Michael Mukasey as the replacement for Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General by a vote of 53 - 40. Despite initially receiving broad bi-partisan support, Mukasey's nomination was almost derailed because in the grand tradition of the Bush administration, he flat out lied when he claimed not to know exactly what waterboarding was. I have to assume this learned scholar lacked the intellect and computer savvy to google waterboarding like I and millions of other less qualified goofballs did. Despite being publicly against torture, he wouldn't state he was against waterboarding until confirmed and briefed what it was by Bush. I would love to be a fly on the wall listening to that conversation, albeit a mentally retarded fly. Obviously Mukasay knows full well what waterboarding is and the illegality of the practice. He refused to admit that however, because if he did, he might find himself in the position of having to request an independent counsel for the purpose of criminally prosecuting both Bush and Cheney for perjury and authorizing torture contrary to U.S. laws.
Tomorrow in Part III, I will include your thoughts, my thoughts and some plain thoughts for all of you to ponder as to how you really feel about living in the land of the illegally wiretapped and home of the cowardly, deserting, torturing, nitwit savant president, Chicken George Bush....
The first recorded use of waterboarding occurred during the Spanish Inquisition in the 1500s on people suspected of holding Jewish, Protestant or other heretic beliefs. Yesterday I wrote about how the Japanese military tortured allied prisoners during World War II. Not to be outdone when it came to subhuman torture, the Nazis also subscribed to the practice as well while attempting to elicit secret information from recently captured prisoners. The Khmer Rouge employed waterboarding during its reign of terror in Cambodia. This form of torture was widely unknown, however, until the Bush administration authorized CIA interrogators to use the technique as one of several "enhanced interrogation techniques" for individuals classified as enemy combatants during Bush's jihad on Muslim terrorism. Many of the recent victims of this practice happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and virtually no proof even exists these captives are terrorists. They were rounded up off the streets and relocated to top secret sights in Europe and Guantanamo in Cuba. They have been tortured and held in direct violation of Habeas Corpus for years without being officially charged with any crime or having access to an attorney.
MENTAL PATIENTS OFTEN ENJOY FRESH KITTY FOR LUNCHEON
Most doctors agree the bulk of any long term damage from waterboarding is primarily psychological. Dr. Allen Keller of Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City recently testified before Congress that victims of waterboarding are so traumatized they continue to have nightmares, depression and panic attacks years later. According to Keller, one patient told him that he was unable to take showers and suffered panic attacks every time it rained. The fear of being killed is a terrifying experience, according to Dr. Keller. These methods are intended to break the prisoners down, to terrify them and cause harm to their psyche, thereby resulting in lasting and harmful health consequences. I don't know about you but I have to believe this is not the best method available in order to gather truthful information from one's enemy. As stated yesterday, prisoners in this state will say anything they think you want them to say in order for the torture to stop. The probability that the statement obtained under these circumstances comes close to resembling the truth is very low indeed.
THEIR RECIPES INCLUDE 50 YUMMY MEALS THAT GO WITH WATERBOARDING
Knowing this, it makes you wonder what kind of spineless moron would condone and approve of this ineffective and cruel method of gathering information. The Bush Administration, at least publicly, refuses to say anything about waterboarding. But in 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that all prisoners in US captivity must be treated according to the Geneva conventions. In July, George W. Bush signed an executive order barring humiliating and degrading treatment that any "reasonable person" would deem beyond the bounds of human decency. The CIA had stopped waterboarding months earlier and no longer uses the technique, according to unnamed government officials quoted in several recent newspaper stories. Still, the administration won't say publicly that waterboarding has been banned, allegedly on the grounds that it doesn't want terrorists to know what to expect if they are captured. A recent survey indicated that approximately 90% of all worldwide terrorists are regular subscribers to the New York Times.
The U.S. Senate recently confirmed the nomination of Michael Mukasey as the replacement for Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General by a vote of 53 - 40. Despite initially receiving broad bi-partisan support, Mukasey's nomination was almost derailed because in the grand tradition of the Bush administration, he flat out lied when he claimed not to know exactly what waterboarding was. I have to assume this learned scholar lacked the intellect and computer savvy to google waterboarding like I and millions of other less qualified goofballs did. Despite being publicly against torture, he wouldn't state he was against waterboarding until confirmed and briefed what it was by Bush. I would love to be a fly on the wall listening to that conversation, albeit a mentally retarded fly. Obviously Mukasay knows full well what waterboarding is and the illegality of the practice. He refused to admit that however, because if he did, he might find himself in the position of having to request an independent counsel for the purpose of criminally prosecuting both Bush and Cheney for perjury and authorizing torture contrary to U.S. laws.
Tomorrow in Part III, I will include your thoughts, my thoughts and some plain thoughts for all of you to ponder as to how you really feel about living in the land of the illegally wiretapped and home of the cowardly, deserting, torturing, nitwit savant president, Chicken George Bush....
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