Schakowsky On Torture: "Just Following Orders" A Historically Bogus Argument

http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/schakowsky-on-torture-just-following.html

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a top Democrat on the intelligence committee, dismissed President Obama's defense of CIA officials who tortured detainees under orders from the White House....

Schakowsky, in an interview with the Huffington Post, says she's heard that argument before. "This notion that 'I was just obeying orders' -- I don't want to compare this to Nazi Germany, but we've come to almost ridicule the notion that when horrific acts have been committed that people can use the excuse that, 'Well, I was just following orders,'" she says.

Schakowsky is chairwoman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

on KO's show (Keith's off tonight).

She was appalled that guys like Cheney are still out there advocating for their torture policy.

called "A Savage War of Peace" that I recently read. The French were torturing like crazy during the Battle of Algiers. Anyway, the conclusion of this book, written in the 70's, was that the torturers were victims in their own ways. They were all regular people, were horrified by the torture, but their superiors convinced them that it was necessary for whatever reason. Most of the torturers went on to be broken men, in various ways.

So, I am ok with giving a pass to the confused young men, PROVIDED that the senior political and military leadership is held accountable, and by held accountable I mean put in prison.

The CIA specialists involved were not confused young men but rather professional interrogators with a great deal of knowledge concerning international law as it pertains to interrogations. They got the memos because they asked for a rationale to avoid prosecution. Mission accomplished!

Also it is my understanding that they learned their "trade" first as they should with training that complied with the conventions as well as our own laws. They then learned to torture by learning techniques used in places we had been sending people where torture is common. (we sent them to such places to avoid prosecution). This was an attempt to carry that sort of immunity from war crimes to our own shops rather than using only other countries for torture. That is why they needed the memos - they were not simply thrust upon them.

I wish it were not true. The only confused young men tricked into such behavior were actually the only ones that never got the immunity, kids like at abu graib.

6 times a f'ing day..no one does that once a day and doesn't know damn well what they are doing! Does anyone know what a sick demented person could do that???????? Especially a professional trained in interrogations ..legally..
Hell they were doing this before one memo was written..the memo's don't work because they were waterboarding before any memo's were written

This is the worst form of government..and anyone who can condone this or make excuses for this kind of torture..is just as sick!