Cross posted from Rational Resistance.
I had hoped to post this yesterday, the ninth anniversary of Rational Resistance, but some kind of attack temporarily knocked both Rational Resistance and Green Mountain Daily off the air last night. Nevertheless, the release of yesterday's torture report by the Senate Intelligence Committee is way too important to overlook.
The shortest summary I can provide goes like this: everything we said about torture by the Bush administration was true, and everything they said about torture was a lie.
They did it all the time, without regard to need.
It didn't work.
Other, non-torture approaches to interrogation did work.
We've been talking about torture by the Bush administration for almost the entire nine years we've been here, so it's almost hard to believe there is anything new to say about it, but that's just not true. Mother Jones and other sources have reported on new outrages that none of us would have anticipated.
For example:
The administration spokespeople, including now federal judge Jay Bybee, lied to Congress about the nature and effectiveness of the torture program.
At least one detainee died of hypothermia after being held in cold temperatures shackled to a concrete floor. And George Tenet directly lied about it when he was asked on 60 Minutes.
As I say, you should read as much as you can about this, and I guarantee that you will be shocked.
The fact remains: we were right, and everyone working for Bush lied about everything they said.
What was overlooked in torture report: How many terrorists were forced to burn alive or jump to their deaths?
were official recognition that these were war crimes and should be punished accordingly.
I think we are all waiting to see what happens next. If that statement has been made and is never acted upon, how can we ever expect that these same practices won’t be routinely repeated upon detainees anywhere and anytime going forward?
Which is why the GOP is killing the Dems in the polls: Republican voters need to be lied to, it’s what motivates them to vote. Tell them the truth and they stay home.
Dems are the opposite, lie to the Dems and they stay home, tell them the truth and the Democrats win landslides. Which is why no Serious Democrat ever tells the truth.