Home » Blogs » MsExPat's blog

I'm Without Words Here...

Sun, 04/19/2009 - 9:22pm — MsExPat

Memo Says Prisoner Was Waterboarded 183 Times....

Initial news reports about the memos in The New York Times and other publications did not include the numbers, but several bloggers, including Marcy Wheeler of the emptywheel blog, discovered the numbers over the weekend.

»

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

And no doubt they piped the video...

By lambert on Sun, 04/19/2009 - 10:16pm

... right into the Oval Office.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

»

Trying to get it to take

By Damon on Sun, 04/19/2009 - 10:22pm

Because, the 183rd times the charm, huh? Disgusting. But, the administration has already pre-emptively came out against applying law to bureaucrats, so it wouldn't have made a difference if it was one or 183 times...

—

But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...

»

it was done to Khalid Sheik Mohammad

By MsExPat on Sun, 04/19/2009 - 10:28pm

the alleged mastermind of 9/11.

This wasn't about interrogation or information gathering. This was a blood retribution.

We should probably be relieved that there wasn't a thug judge out there who could have been persuaded to sign off on beheading.

»

183 ticking bombs does seem rather a lot

By lambert on Sun, 04/19/2009 - 10:32pm

And why'd they do it, then? In the classic punchline, "Because they can."

Hey, I've got an idea! Maybe Senator Leahy could write a sternly worded letter? To whoever's in charge?

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

»

If it wasn't clear before, it is now

By Davidson on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 12:11am

They did it out of pure sadism (no matter what a few might tell themselves). The hell they did it for "intelligence" or "national security."

I want to have faith that we will one day hold these war criminals accountable, but I seriously doubt it. Clinton failed on Iran/Contra, which led to Bush II. I fear what Obama failing on Bush & Cheney will lead to.

»

People thought I was harsh

By herb the verb on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 10:10am

How about this from Docudharma (via commenter Edger at Talkleft), where he goes all "Godwin's Law for real" all over Obama's ass?

"I've learned recently that the aftermath of the Second World War should have been a time for reflection, not retribution. Everyone should have respected the strong views and emotions of Germans who defended their country through a war crime or two, just as much as they respected the strong views and emotions of the people whose loved ones were executed and dumped in a ditch, bombed, tortured, gassed, burned in ovens, and condemned as subhuman parasites unfit to exist.

But vengeance prevailed over common sense. Retribution was insisted upon by persecutors waving the "rule of law" in everyone's face, they rambled on and on and on about "justice" but all they were really after was payback and revenge. So many German children who loved their dedicated fathers had to watch with tears in their eyes while their fathers were slandered in the newspapers and demonized by finger pointing trial lawyers parading around for the newsreel cameras.

[snip]

The Complicity Guy Has Spoken"

Ouch.

—

-----------------------------

I'm not such a bad guy once you get to know me.

»

Nice find, Herb.

By Damon on Tue, 04/21/2009 - 1:47am

I wish there was a much more succinct term than "ouch" to describe that takedown, but I can't find one, for the moment.

—

But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...

»

But...but...

By pie on Tue, 04/21/2009 - 8:09am

this was different! We only tortured a few bad apples.

223 times.

Great blog post. I hope Obama is just bidin' his time, waiting for a tsunami of outrage and disgust to sweep all the criminals out to sea. If he ignores this, I don't care what other good things he does. He'll be politically dead to me.

»

Prez Toad-Exploder, of course,

By Card-carrying_B... on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 11:11am

was one of those who "never suspected" that Chinese water torture might be Chinese water torture.

—

Reporter to Mahatma Gandhi: What do you think of Western Civilization?
Gandhi to reporter: I think it would be a good idea.

»