The World is Better Without Saddam, We Got Intel From Waterboarding

I am amazed that we have gotten this far into the conversation and the media - and Dems, too - fail to look at the big picture.

Repubs like to say the world is better without Saddam. That's true - if you don't look at the larger context of sacrificing thousands of lives and billions of dollars, let alone the immeasurable strategic losses we have suffered on the international stage (Iran, for starters, but going on and on and on).

The same with waterboarding. Yes, it is ineffective and "better" methods are available, but this still does not acknowledge the fact that these tactics were the single largest recruiting tool for al-Qaeda, especially when much of the Muslim world had opposed them. Beyond that, the loss of moral high ground and prestige has cost us not only in direct negotiations with our enemies, but have cost us dramatically with our own allies. And, yes, that does extend to negotiations about the global economic crisis - and will extend far and wide for the foreseeable future, even with Obama in office.

Waterboarding is far more than ineffective. It has been costly in the extreme.

the Prez.