Posted by
toady on Saturday, September 15, 2007 7:03:49 PM
This was once posted on Townhall.com:
"The anti-torture argument sits on a fragile branch of moral vanity. The torture opponents’ entire premise rests on the erroneous notion that one can successfully wage war without cruelty and savagery. I wish they were right. But they’re not."
Today ABC is reporting that one particulary piece of cruelty: waterboarding, is no longer practiced by the United States. Brian Ross reports:
"The controversial interrogation technique known as water-boarding... has been banned by CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden...
The officials say Hayden made the decision at the recommendation of his deputy, Steve Kappes, and received approval from the White House to remove water-boarding from the list of approved interrogation techniques first authorized by a presidential finding in 2002."
The officials say the decision was made sometime last year but has never been publicly disclosed.
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This technique gives pain equivalent to organ failure and death and would be judged to be torture were it ever used by a foreign power on Americans.
Nevertheless Bush says America does not torture. Petraeus goes further saying torture is not legal, not useful and not necessary. Call it moral vanity, call it anything you like, but simply note the decision was made long before the surge began. Anyone who argues that the surge is a military success must conclude that Gen. Petraeus is quite capable of successfully waging war without the cruelty and savagery of waterboarding.
Good.