Bush: I Personally Authorized Torture Of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (video)

In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Fox News Sunday, President Bush admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He said he personally asked “what tools” were available to use on him, and sought legal approval for waterboarding him:

BUSH: One such person who gave us information was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. … And I’m in the Oval Office and I am told that we have captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the professionals believe he has information necessary to secure the country. So I ask what tools are available for us to find information from him and they gave me a list of tools, and I said are these tools deemed to be legal? And so we got legal opinions before any decision was made.

Watch it:

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/11/bush-authorized-torture/

Bush staunchly defended the program, saying it saved American lives — despite interrogators’ claims to the contrary. He waved away the debate over torture by saying dismissively, “Look, I understand why people can get carried away on this issue.”

Last year, Bush admitted that he was “aware” that his national security team met to discuss KSM’s interrogation, and that he approved of the meeting. His admission today suggests Bush had a far more direct role in developing the specific torture program, which included waterboarding, a freezing cell, and long periods of standing and stress positions (all of which have long been considered torture).

What’s more, a former Pentagon intelligence analyst told Vanity Fair that “K.S.M. produced no actionable intelligence“; another former CIA official, who read all the reports from KSM’s interrogation, said, “90 percent of it was total f*cking bullsh*t.”


CIA admits waterboarding inmates
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7229169.stm


Bush Aware of Advisers' Interrogation Talks
President Says He Knew His Senior Advisers Discussed Tough Interrogation Methods
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/Story?id=4635175&page=1

more links at ThinkProgress

Other criminals watching this are going. "WTF?"
:dem:

because he KNOWS nothing will be done!

They surely know these subjects are discussed in schools and colleges. Heckuva job, Bush. You're a fine role model.

Now, let's do something about it to show they committed crimes.

I'll tell you, unless America punishes these criminals, we are a doomed nation. There can be no doubt that as long as Republicans live and spawn, our future holds a President who will make Bush look like a saint.

much easier. The bastard confessed on national tv.

Just as I was typing this, the song "Send in the Clowns" ran through my mind.

unconsciousness but, the information I got, helped me find out who actually broke the vase and the lawyer said that it was a ok.

Since 9/11 had already taken place, exactly what information was so necessary?

Besides, torture NEVER, EVER gets at the truth. It is simply used for propaganda, Just ask John McCain what the North Vietnamese got out of torturing him.

forget it. No jury would convict Bush for having Mohamed tortured IMO. All that would happen is a lot of political capital would be spent, a lot of attention would be diverted, and in the end a good deal of the middle that Obama deftly stole back from the GOP (with the help of Bush's abject failures) will see this as nothing but revenge.

We have had plenty of bad actors in the past and we have not devolved into administrations focusing on prosecuting the actions of their predecessors. Theoretically, Lincoln could have been prosecuted for suspending habeas corpus, Truman could have been prosecuted for approving the use of the A-bomb.

I for one suggest that we focus on exacting our "revenge" by supporting the new administration in fixing the mess Bush left, improving through actions America's standing in the world, demanding significant progress on the progressive agenda and moving forward.


Okay, flame away.

Revenge is sweet and lasting. A new America with a lift for everyone. Not the rich fat pigs. I hope that some of our people can get even in a productive way. The average american is not interested in tossing bush in jail. They want, a job, a house and a car and will work for them. Righteous anger and getting even just mucks it all up. Remember your anger is not what they are interested in. Most americans are not concerned about torture they want to be safe. They have been scared into submission. They don't even know or care about the Constitution. The believe that the Bill of Rights give people too many rights. Lets educate them and not screw up everything.

He called him 'Khaleik Sheik Mohammed' THREE TIMES.

Yay, MBA President! :sarcasm:

Obama says he doesn't want CIA torturers to be overly concerned with supervision, but the fact is, they've been obsessively supervised all along, as Jane Mayer reveals in her 2008 book The Dark Side in an interview with former CIA interrogator John Kiriakou:

"Before you could lay a hand on him, you had to send a cable saying, 'He's uncooperative. Request permission to do X.' And permission would come, saying 'You're allowed to slap him one time in the belly with an open hand . . . or keep him awake for forty-eight hours.'" The program, Kiriakou said, "was extremely deliberate." (page 167)

In other words, a) CIA "interrogators" are already minutely micromanaged, and b) Bush and his henchmen approved every particle of the horrific crimes they carried out in our names.

Book 'em, Dano. :mad:

The Criminal will be leaving DC soon. Says he's going to Dallas, but we think Paraguay. Shouldn't be too hard to find, look for a fake cowboy with a big hat with no cattle.