No Torture Needed -- Cookies Did the Job

E&P

http://www.eandppub.com/2009/05/no-torture-neededcookies-did-the-job.html

Fascinating piece coming in tomorrow's TIME magazine. Reporter Bobby Ghosh writes, “The most successful interrogation of an al-Qaeda operative by U.S. officials required no sleep deprivation, no slapping or ‘walling’ and no waterboarding. All it took to soften up Abu Jandal, who had been closer to Osama bin Laden than any other terrorist ever captured, was a handful of sugar-free cookies.”

Former interrogator/member of the FBI Ali Soufan, who testified to Congress last month, tells TIME: “He was a diabetic ... We had showed him respect, and we had done this nice thing for him .... So he started talking to us instead of giving us lectures.” Ghosh points out, “Defenders of the Bush program, most notably Cheney, say the use of waterboarding produced actionable intelligence that helped the U.S. disrupt terrorist plots. But the experiences of officials like Soufan suggest that the utility of torture is limited at best and counterproductive at worst.”

can't jerk off over photos of people eating cookies.

:hide:

I love sharp one liners that surprise me!

Funny!

Cheney and the rest of the thugs don't really care about information they
can get out of people.

They're all sick, sadistic bastards and they enjoy abusing people.

It's what psychopaths do. Cheney is Hanibal Lecter with a government job.

All of this nonsense about why torture is essential. Not one of their reasons
holds any water. They get off on it, pure and simple.

They're also trying to slowly make it acceptable, so pretty soon--they can do it
to anyone--with their ultimate goal being the torture of US citizens, specifically
anyone who does not toe their sick line.

"Not torture" my ass! :D

Isn't it amazing what a bit of kindness and respect can get?

I believe that the biggest reason to avoid torture has not been given enough attention:
TORTURING OUR PRISONERS OPENS THE DOORS FOR OUR SOLDIERS/CITIZENS TO BE TORTURED.

:patriot:

The reason not to torture is NOT because our enemies will reciprocate--they have already demonstrated that they won't.

We should not torture because IT. IS. IMMORAL.

It has never been about "them", or what they'll do for us. It's about who we are, and what kind of a nation do we want to be.

That idiotic excuse is still being used by the rabid RWing. :eyes:

Mushroom clouds. Terror, terra, terra!

They are consistent, eh?

Supporters of torture are capable of any lie or deceit. Even culpable, if history be your guide. They need to be marked so that we can tell them apart from the general populace? Big red 'T' on their forehead?

...for cookie smuggling and giving cookie-comfort to the enemy.

Torturers are safe from prosecution by this administration.

--

I can't really think of a time that torture was used to get information from somebody; it's always used to get someone to lie (from the Inquisition to Gitmo) and it's fairly effective at that.

I mean, I know Christians are aware Jesus said that, but I'm sure they think He was being a bit naive and unrealistic and pretty much an idealist and said it before 9/11 when everything changed. I guess they think that He -- poor, well-meaning guy -- couldn't have forseen 9/11.

:sarcasm: