Is Waterboarding legal? - Democratic Underground

Prefer

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:35 PM
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Is Waterboarding legal?

Would it be within the legal power of anyone but the CIA to Waterboard?

Clearly it is not torture, by the new legal definition provided by President Bush, so there must not be anything wrong with it. So does that mean the police could do it? If they can conduct a full body cavity search, you would think Waterboarding would be less intrusive than that. Could it even be to where hired security guards like at Walmart could waterboard?

I think the current events have set a confusing precedent.

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elehhhhna

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:36 PM
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1. K&R & Welcome!

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BuyingThyme

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:37 PM
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2. The president does not decide what's legal.

Edited on Tue Dec-11-07 05:37 PM by BuyingThyme

And welcome to DU!

:hi:

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The Magistrate

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:38 PM
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3. No, Sir, It Is Not Legal

The 'opinions' produced by legal sycophants within the administration have no more validity than the reports prepared by Enron's accountants....

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Demeter

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:39 PM
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4. No, It's Not

It is a crime by international treaty, and no amount of signing statements or special legislation can get around it. Such efforts only make Congress complicit in crimes against humanity.

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Warpy

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:45 PM
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5. Welcome to DU

and if the trials that convicted the Japanese secret police of war crimes are any indication, waterboarding has been illegal for the past 62 years, since that was one of the main interrogation tortures that convicted them.

That Cheney and the PNAC crowd managed to convince anybody in our military or CIA that it had somehow been sanitized is pure criminality.

This country will never get its international reputation back until our own war criminals are brought to trial, convicted, and punished.

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sandnsea

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:47 PM
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6. That is the correct political strategy

We are trying to reach people who never object to anything until they can imagine it being done to themselves.

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lovuian

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:47 PM
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7. NO no no no no no

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slackmaster

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:49 PM
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8. Only when done among consenting adults

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TheWraith

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:51 PM
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9. That new definition is, in and of itself, not legal.

US law has pretty specific definitions of torture, as does international law. Those can't be redefined.

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Kazak

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Tue Dec-11-07 05:58 PM
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10. Good question!

Rec'd

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Supersedeas

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Tue Dec-11-07 06:07 PM
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11. the Roberts Alito Thomas Scalia Kennedy court might have to decide if the President can define it...

wanna hazard a guess as to how they'll rule?

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Flabbergasted

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Tue Dec-11-07 06:12 PM
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12. Clearly it is torture. nt

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