Dick Cheney: 'I have no problem' using torture program against innocent persons

by Big Fat Heretic Sun Dec 21, 2014 7:21 pm

OK, before I go on to the topic of former Vice President Cheney and the Republicans, I have
something else to say first.

Anyway . . . . . as we all know, this is an anti-sports forum.

But to me, it's not enough to be merely anti-sports. You also have to be pro-education, and pro-human-rights, not only against bullying, and also against the use of torture on prisoners.

So, to any new members coming in here, don't tell me you're a Republican! OK?

Because if you do . . . then, you are a worthless piece of dog-shit!!!

I don't care how anti-sports you might be. That's not good enough!

If you're a piece of shit Republican, then you might as well be pro-sports!

I would rather you were a jock who is against bullying and torture.

Also, I do have some respect for those jocks who have come out of the closet and openly admit to being gay.

I say that, because it sort of cancels out the machismo in the sports culture.

Yeah! Whenever some sports jerk, either jock or fan, says something like . . . . . DUH! You're a fag because you don't like football! . . . . . well, I can point out to these idiots that many professional football players and basketball players are gay, and many are now coming out openly as being gay.

So, I want to thank them for their honesty. They have my respect, even though I will always hate sports, they still have my respect for their honesty in coming out.

And NO!!! Being homosexual is NOT a sin and it's NOT a choice! Nobody chooses to be gay! You're born that way, and you can't pray the gay away! OK?

Anyway . . . . . now that I got that out of the way . . . . . on to our topic.

Here is an article from DAILY KOS.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/15/1351990/-Dick-Cheney-I-have-no-problem-using-torture-program-against-innocent-persons?detail=email

I now quote for the article below.

DAILY KOS
Mon Dec 15, 2014 at 10:27 AM PST

Dick Cheney: 'I have no problem' using
torture program against innocent persons

Yesterday, the former vice president of the United States and one of the architects of the American torture program explained why he was unconcerned about the torture of innocent prisoners.

---------------------------------------------------
CHUCK TODD: Let me go to Gul Rahman. He was chained to the wall of his cell, doused with water, froze to death in C.I.A. custody. And it turned out it was a case of mistaken identity.

DICK CHENEY: - - right. But the problem I had is with the folks that we did release that end up back on the battlefield. [ . . . ] I'm more concerned with bad guys who got out and released than I am with a few that, in fact, were innocent.

CHUCK TODD: 25% of the detainees though, 25% turned out to be innocent. They were released.

DICK CHENEY: Where are you going to draw the line, Chuck? How are - - [ . . . ]

CHUCK TODD: Is that too high? You're okay with that margin for error?

DICK CHENEY: I have no problem as long as we achieve our objective.
---------------------------------------------------

A reminder: some of the most egregious torture cases took place during preparations for the Iraq War.

---------------------------------------------------
It was during this period that CIA interrogators waterboarded two alleged top al Qaida detainees repeatedly — Abu Zubaydah at least 83 times in August 2002 and Khalid Sheik Muhammed 183 times in March 2003 — according to a newly released Justice Department document.

"There was constant pressure on the intelligence agencies and the interrogators to do whatever it took to get that information out of the detainees, especially the few high-value ones we had, and when people kept coming up empty, they were told by Cheney's and Rumsfeld's people to push harder," he continued.

"Cheney's and Rumsfeld's people were told repeatedly, by CIA . . . and by others, that there wasn't any reliable intelligence that pointed to operational ties between bin Laden and Saddam, and that no such ties were likely because the two were fundamentally enemies, not allies."

Senior administration officials, however, "blew that off and kept insisting that we'd overlooked something, that the interrogators weren't pushing hard enough, that there had to be something more we could do to get that information," he said.
---------------------------------------------------

As for the innocent persons who found themselves in the CIA's torture programs, the effects were devastating.

It's difficult to understand how anyone could paint Dick Cheney as anything but a war criminal. Smugly advocating for torture of potential innocents; undertaking a torture program in major part to find "evidence" of an al Qaeda-Iraq link that did not exist—there are no possible legitimizing factors here.

Originally posted to Hunter on Mon Dec 15, 2014 at 10:27 AM PST.
Also republished by Daily Kos.

So, the Republicans are OK with innocent people getting tortured and don't even give a damn, as long as we can get the ones who are guilty.

So what, if a few innocent people are wrongly convicted! Right?

WRONG!!!

If this is what's going on in our American justice system, then, it's no wonder why people are losing respect for our law enforcement officers.

Well . . . . . I guess torture is the Christian thing to do!

Look at the history of the Catholic church and the Inquisition!

And the Republicans are seriously trying to push America ever closer to becoming a theocracy.

Yeah! I guess Jesus smiles at the Republican party.

I'll say whatever I damn well please, because I know God hates my guts!

And, I'm also going to say . . . if you are a Republican, then you are a worthless piece of dog-shit!!!

I'm outta here!