May 3, 2011

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Donald Rumsfeld

“It is true that some information that came from normal interrogation approaches at Guantanamo did lead to information that was beneficial in this instance. But it was not harsh treatment and it was not waterboarding.” — Donald Rumsfeld
"Mohammed did not reveal the names while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, former officials said. He identified them many months later under standard interrogation, they said, leaving it once again up for debate as to whether the harsh technique was a valuable tool or an unnecessarily violent tactic." — ABC News
"According to the New York Times, the turning point came when detainees being held in Guantánamo—not in the C.I.A.’s secret black-site prisons—revealed to American interrogators the pseudonym used by a key bin Laden courier" — Jane Mayer, The New Yorker

2 comments:

  1. Leeeebuhrals: "Torture hasn't ever produced any trustworthy *or* vital information."

    Right-wingers: "Waterboarding has been very valuable in bringing to the public consciousness a great cinematic device for exciting interrogation scenes in 'Iron Man', 'Salt' and 'The Expendables'."

    Infotainment media: "There are compelling arguments on both sides..."

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  2. The grayness of the debate is itself the decisive factor — the fact that torture enthusiasts haven't been able to pin even one piece of actionable intelligence to their methods after almost a decade of trying. A more robust argument is going to be required to overturn so large a moral absolute.

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