Wise Step Back, Review Past Mistakes, Never Repeat Them

Stain on America: Not the Image We Need

(So, where is the justice)

I was reviewing my files on this subject and now want to introduce and refine it with these two introductory statements re: linkage between Iraq and al-Qaeda and by extension, ties to 9/11:

Dark Dick Cheney: June 18, 2004: “There clearly was a relationship. It's been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming. It goes back to the early '90s. It involves a whole series of contacts, high-level contacts with Osama bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence officials.” (Cheney part of his interview on CNBC's Capitol Report).

Dark Dick Cheney: June 2, 2009:  Then, Mr. Cheney said in part that there was never any evidence that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq played any role in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, saying in part: “On the question of whether or not Iraq was involved in 9/11, there was never any evidence to prove that.” (Cheney during an interview on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren). 

Note about “Dark Dick” — It's the title I substitute for Vice President when discussing this issue and Mr. Cheney's views about it. This quotes comes directly from Mr. Cheney in his own words (cite: PBS Front Line Show): On September 16, 2001, Vice President Cheney appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and talked about what it will take to deal with the terrorism threat: “We have to work the dark side, if you will. Spend time in the shadows of the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion.”

What follows here are 10 Torture Myths Debunked (the article is quite lengthy, but worth your time weed through it). As I am fond to say: "Torture is illegal, unlawful, and a war crime" (and yes, water boarding is torture and has been for decades).

Water Boarding is a Punishable Offense (3 case studies):

1.  In the war crimes tribunals that followed Japan's defeat in World War II, the issue of water boarding was sometimes raised. In 1947, the U.S. charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for water boarding a U.S. civilian. Asano was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

2.  On January 21, 1968, The Washington Post ran a front-page photo of a U.S. soldier supervising the water boarding of a captured North Vietnamese soldier. The caption said the technique induced “a flooding sense of suffocation and drowning, meant to make him talk.” The picture led to an Army investigation and, two months later, the court martial of the soldier.

3.  Water boarding has occurred on U.S. soil, as well. In 1983, Texas Sheriff James Parker was charged, along with three of his deputies, for handcuffing prisoners to chairs, placing towels over their faces, and pouring water on the cloth until they gave what the officers considered to be confessions. The sheriff and his deputies were all convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. 

Additionally my library on the subject follows below. Thanks for stopping by.