Mark Bennett, among others, is in a snit about waterboarding, and whether America should use it to extract information. I have never been waterboarded, but I did almost drown as a small child. I was pulled out at the last minute by my older brother. It was a terrifying experience, which I still have nightmares about over 40 years later. I certainly never want to endure the experience again.
We waterboard soldiers, sailors, and airmen as part of their training in SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance,Escape). To my knowledge, and after some research and talking to people who have been waterboarded, none of our military members suffered any permanent physical or psychological effects from being waterboarded. They all agreed that it was unpleasant and scary, but highly effective. Is it torture? A great many sanctimonious, self righteous people insist that the USA does not torture. But we do. The very same left wing liberals that hold the lives and feelings of terrorists in such high regard and will do anything to protect them sanction the murder and the dismemberment of living human beings every single day in this country. They just call it abortion, say it's a woman's right, and that makes it ok.
The second issue is whether waterboarding works. According to the military, it does. According to the effect it had on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, it does.
There is a building located at the intersection of S. Hope St. and W. 5th St., in the downtown central business district of Los Angeles It's 73 stories tall and has a sort of crown thing on the top that is beautifully illuminated at night, and it is called the Bank Tower. It was in the movie Independence Day and it is the tallest building on the West Coast. It is filled with banks, lawyers, real estate agencies, restaurants and all the usual people that work in such buildings, ranging from the minimum wage employees to the multi-millionaires. All those people go about their jobs and lives and go home to their families at the end of their work day, and the Bank Building glitters against the sky at night because the CIA waterboarded Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
Khalid wasn't going to tell his interrogators anything. He informed them that Americans were too weak to do what it took to defend their country. He told them that they would "know soon" about the plans that al quaida had for Americans. He kept saying "you will know soon" right up until he was waterboarded.
After being waterboarded, Khalid was more forthcoming. He gave information about a "Second Wave" that was supposed to do to Los Angeles what the 9-11 hijackers did to NYC. The following are quotes from a CIA memo. "Khalid gave information that led to the capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin, aka Hambali, and the discovery of the Guraba Cell, a 17-member Jemaah Islamiyah cell tasked with executing the 'Second Wave.'"
"More specifically, we understand that Khalid Shaik Mohammed admitted that he had (redaction) large sum of money to an al-Qaida associate (redaction) ... Khan subsequently identified the associate (Zubair), who was then captured," said the memo. "Zubair, in turn, provided information that led to the arrest of Hambali. The information acquired from these captures allowed CIA interrogators to pose more specific questions to Khalid Shaik Mohammed, which led the CIA (to) Hambali's brother, al-Hadi. Using information obtained from multiple sources, al-Hadi was captured, and he subsequently identified the Garuba cell. With the aid of this additional information, interrogations of Hambali confirmed much of what was learned from Khalid Shaik Mohammed."
Now, is the CIA making all this up? Khalid certainly has a track record of this sort of thing; he was the mastermind behind 9-11, and he brags about it. No waterboarding needed! Evidence found when the above named individuals were seized backs up the plot.
So I guess it boils down to whom and what we want to preserve in this country. Do we want the janitors and dishwashers and secretaries and waiters and bankers and lawyers and real estate agents to survive and prosper, or shall we sacrifice them to avoid causing a mass murdering terrorist some momentary discomfort and fear? I bet I know the answer of the tenants of the Bank Building in Los Angeles.
The second issue is whether waterboarding works. According to the military, it does. According to the effect it had on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, it does.
There is a building located at the intersection of S. Hope St. and W. 5th St., in the downtown central business district of Los Angeles It's 73 stories tall and has a sort of crown thing on the top that is beautifully illuminated at night, and it is called the Bank Tower. It was in the movie Independence Day and it is the tallest building on the West Coast. It is filled with banks, lawyers, real estate agencies, restaurants and all the usual people that work in such buildings, ranging from the minimum wage employees to the multi-millionaires. All those people go about their jobs and lives and go home to their families at the end of their work day, and the Bank Building glitters against the sky at night because the CIA waterboarded Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
Khalid wasn't going to tell his interrogators anything. He informed them that Americans were too weak to do what it took to defend their country. He told them that they would "know soon" about the plans that al quaida had for Americans. He kept saying "you will know soon" right up until he was waterboarded.
After being waterboarded, Khalid was more forthcoming. He gave information about a "Second Wave" that was supposed to do to Los Angeles what the 9-11 hijackers did to NYC. The following are quotes from a CIA memo. "Khalid gave information that led to the capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin, aka Hambali, and the discovery of the Guraba Cell, a 17-member Jemaah Islamiyah cell tasked with executing the 'Second Wave.'"
"More specifically, we understand that Khalid Shaik Mohammed admitted that he had (redaction) large sum of money to an al-Qaida associate (redaction) ... Khan subsequently identified the associate (Zubair), who was then captured," said the memo. "Zubair, in turn, provided information that led to the arrest of Hambali. The information acquired from these captures allowed CIA interrogators to pose more specific questions to Khalid Shaik Mohammed, which led the CIA (to) Hambali's brother, al-Hadi. Using information obtained from multiple sources, al-Hadi was captured, and he subsequently identified the Garuba cell. With the aid of this additional information, interrogations of Hambali confirmed much of what was learned from Khalid Shaik Mohammed."
Now, is the CIA making all this up? Khalid certainly has a track record of this sort of thing; he was the mastermind behind 9-11, and he brags about it. No waterboarding needed! Evidence found when the above named individuals were seized backs up the plot.
So I guess it boils down to whom and what we want to preserve in this country. Do we want the janitors and dishwashers and secretaries and waiters and bankers and lawyers and real estate agents to survive and prosper, or shall we sacrifice them to avoid causing a mass murdering terrorist some momentary discomfort and fear? I bet I know the answer of the tenants of the Bank Building in Los Angeles.
