America, The Torture Nation
December 9, 2014

Ever since we were attacked on 9/11, there has been an ongoing debate over how to fight the War on Terror.

There are some folks, like me, who believe we must use harsh measures to defeat the jihadists, who would slaughter us all if they could.

There are others who say we must obey the Geneva Convention even though we are fighting an enemy that does not fall under that treaty.

And then there's the definition of torture.

Some believe that subjecting a captive to loud noise or verbal threats is torture.

So it's useless to debate the issue because minds will not be changed.

Enter a report by Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

It says that the CIA tortured captured al Qaeda suspects, and lied about it to Congress.

The Senate Intel Committee is comprised of 15 individuals -- eight Democrats, seven Republicans.

All of the Republicans refused to endorse the report, which by the way cost $40 million to produce.

The GOP senators did that because they felt it was a partisan situation, designed to embarrass the Bush administration.

The report concludes that harsh interrogations did not produce a single critical intelligence nugget that could not have been obtained by non-coercive means.

Now, I have spoken directly to senior members of the CIA who say that conclusion is false.

They strongly assert that coerced information saved thousands of lives.

They point to the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad to prove their point.

I was not there.  I do not know what happened.  But I can tell you that a number of high-ranking CIA people are furious and swear the Senate report is misleading.

Some say the report should never have been released because it puts U.S. operatives around the world in danger.

I don't dispute that, but in an open society, if the CIA or any other federal agency breaks the law, we the people should know it.

That being said, Talking Points does believe the report is a partisan play that will not solve anything.

Here's President Bush:

On CNN, Dec. 7

GEORGE W. BUSH: “I knew the directors, I knew the deputy directors, you know, I knew a lot of the operators.  These are good people, really good people and we're lucky as a nation to have them.”

Former Vice President Cheney was even stronger, telling The New York Times quote:

"It occurs to me [the report] was sort of a cover for those on the Democratic side who were briefed on the program, but then were subsequently embarrassed to admit that and so are going back to construct a rationale to say, 'They didn't tell us the truth.'

"[The interrogations were] the right thing to do, and if I had to do it over again, I would do it."

On a personal note, I know scores of Americans who lost people on 9/11.  I have watched children grow up without fathers and mothers.

If I were president, I would have authorized waterboarding and other severe interrogation methods of high­-ranking, captured terrorists.

It is morally correct to protect innocent lives from barbarians.  

As we all know the jihadists are beheading Americans today; they will kill any American they can.

That's not theory, that's reality.

We are a nation of laws, but we are involved in a brutal, ongoing war.

Americans need to be protected.

And that's the memo.

Posted by Bill O'Reilly at 8:36 PM
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America, The Torture Nation
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