Obama’s Torture Dilemma

Will new disclosures on detainee abuse force criminal probes?

By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jan 14, 2009

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  • Posted By: J.D. @ 04/06/2009 6:35:23 AM

    THE CIA AND NSA CREATE A BUFFER SYSTEM TO COUNTEREACT INFORMATION AND DATA WHATEVER IT TAKES TO PROTECT INNOCENT LIVES AND CREATE A NORMAL SETTING WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO EXECUTE THE TARGET EFFECTED AREA AND TO LIVE NORMAL FOR PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT PEACE OF MIND THAT MY FRIEND IS WHAT OUR FORFATHERS FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM........................

  • Posted By: Gerard58 @ 03/15/2009 8:05:38 PM

    Why do we need to be kind or even worry about how the CIA or the Military handles the men that belong to an organization that would kill every man, woman and child in America or has 9/11slipped our minds already. Terroists are not solders, they are the killers of the innocent and we better get good at finding them and killing them first; oh by the way they are not going to quit tryng.

  • Posted By: AmericanSince1638 @ 03/14/2009 3:14:17 PM

    History cheers the Nuremburg war crime trial and the de-Nazification of Germany. The Germans subsequently openly confronted their history and purged the darkness from their society. The Japanese had no such benefit. They never honestly confronted their history and are only now (with the insistence and prodding of China) coming to terms with their misdeeds.
    My country has done wrong: has trampled international law; has ignored international convention. The record is clear and increasingly obvious.
    That Afghan, Saudi, and Somali forces have done so does not excuse our behavior; we are better than they. We must prove that by following the Nuremburg example and prosecuting and purging those that have led us into darkness. We must return to that republic lit by the lives and examples of Washington and Lincoln. One would think the party of Lincoln would agree with that.

  • Posted By: Shalashaska8 @ 01/30/2009 6:38:57 PM

    Oh and one more thing, has there been anymore terrorist attacks in the US since 9/11?? OHHHH yeeeeaa no there hasnt so Bush WAS doing his job, I dont give a crap about the stock market and banks as long as we dont have bombs going off and we still have the best military the USA will be the safest and best country of them all.

    • Posted By: smar_tass @ 03/12/2009 7:16:50 PM

      oh yeah was there any terrorist attacks before bushs 9/11 attack on his own country?

  • Posted By: smar_tass @ 03/12/2009 7:11:51 PM

    helloi how can you send our people over there to kill people and then try to prosec ue them for ways of interogation when in war there are no rules

  • Posted By: endoftheworld @ 03/12/2009 6:51:11 PM

    If what their describing above is torture then I' guilty of torturing my younger brother. Get real. They are cutting our heads off right? Wake up Liberals. Obama will be the death of us all. What a joke.

  • Posted By: endoftheworld @ 03/12/2009 6:47:37 PM

    what a bunch or horse pucky. How crazy is it to go backwards on this. If what they've listed above is their idea of torture than I'm guilty of torturing my little brother. They do realize that these animals were up against are cutting our heads off...right? Were doomed as a country.
    Rob

  • Posted By: landonmkelsey @ 03/10/2009 5:18:52 PM

    don't approve of torture?

    watch Fox "24" with Jack Bauer!

    The general reasons for torture are obvious.

    What if the torture might reveal where your child was being held?

    Don't be a stupd hypocrite

  • Posted By: nuguse @ 02/19/2009 4:01:17 AM

    I am Simon I was in Colorado in 2005 they torched me then I went to canada then they did again and again even in Canada after alot of suffer I went to my country Ethiopia but they are still torching me I am torched by different tachtices until this time more than Mohammed al-Qahtani but when I read about the tourching of mohammed I feel sorry to my self, b/c the USA agents here in Ethiopian are doing more dangerous than these things written on internet but still I am suffering of these stupied agents !
    Simon
    nu.guse@hotmail.com
    simonateng@yahoo.com

  • Posted By: Mrs W @ 02/16/2009 10:55:36 PM

    freeman 76 is right;
    Our god has arrived with lies and double standards.Hail to the left Liberal movement to SOCIALISM!!!!!!!He wont lie when he promised the people to see the stimulas.what does he have to hide?Why does only 35% only reallllllllllllly stimulate the economy.At last another lame duck in office and they keep on coming.Hope?Change?Where did it all go?He doesnt even speak uplifting or even encouraging any more.Gloom and Doom is all he has for us in his Great speaches now.Our great god cant even say whats in his own bill he passes and beats around the bush when asked.God help our Country!!!!

    Bush attacking the Constitutional rights?Tell me Liberals:Whats so fair about the Fairness doctrine a direct attack on freedom of speech.Soon to be an all out attack on rights to bare arms another attak on our constitution.Seems to me its your old typical LEFT double standards.

  • Posted By: Shalashaska8 @ 01/30/2009 6:33:23 PM

    I do not see what the big deal is. I mean seriously wake up people!! How can you get information on terrorism, plots, camps ect without the use of torture??? Obviosly these more aggressive techniques where done simply on the fact that they were NOT talking using the normal techniques, one does not simply start out waterboarding a detainee within the first day of interogation. How else do you think the US gets information??? If "nicely" questioning a terrorist means that bomb heading for your kids school goes off I think many of you would change your opinion....and besides that do you think the terrorist follow the Geneva Conventions??? No...which is why they have no right to the same treatment...they are trying to kill us, indescrimanantly and without meaning, get that through your head hippies, we arnt going to hold hands anytime soon.

  • Posted By: freeman76 @ 01/24/2009 10:57:28 PM

    To those who are so visibly upset with the shift in power back to the people, open your eyes: At last we have integrity in the whitehouse! At last we are ready to stand up and proudly demand the return of our constitutional rights, the same rights the Bush-Cheney regime stole from us through deceit and fear-mongering under the name of "The Patriot Act", which has to be the real oxymoron of all time. Anyone who thinks the suspension of our constitutional rights was and is necessary in order to be secure within our political borders, knows very little about how previous administrations failed to use the powers they already had and could have used in order to protect us from the bombings of the World Trade Center and the attacks on the Twin Towers. Previous administrations, yes republican and democrat, were shamefully asleep at the wheel and people who call themselves Americans actually make excuses for them. To be willing to give up the Bill of Rights is to give up what it means to be an American. This is at the core of what our country is about, and is the example we set for the rest of the world. To shrug our shoulders in fear and obedience is to turn our backs on what our soldiers for more than two hundred years have given their lives for: FREEDOM ! Anyone who is willing to make excuses for those politicians and bureaucrats who have failed to protect our freedoms for us, is in effect exercising the same apathy that resulted in the totalitarian facism of Hitler's regime and the totalitarian communism of Stalin's regime. I have yet to hear any information that would prove we need lose any of our own rights as Americans in order to secure the imprisonment and prosecution of dangerous enemies. Looking back, the founding fathers of our country knew there were colonists among them who believed that living as second-class citizens was a fair price to pay for avoiding confrontations with the tyranny of their king in England. Fortunately, bravery and courage ruled the day. Otherwise, we would not be Americans today. For you fear-mongers out there: I am really tired of your pathetic carelessness for your lost freedoms and your silly name calling against those who stand up in your place to regain your lost freedoms. When you hurl epithets, you are not what makes your own country so unique through out the ages of time. Find out how many rights you have lost before your anger is misdirected against the true patriots of today. True patriotism is not blind obediance. And it most assuredly is not expressed in fearful rage. Be brave, search for the truth, not convenient rhetoric. Lets all be Americans again.

  • Posted By: jrbjrbrjb @ 01/24/2009 9:43:02 PM

    The Bush Administration felt it had the right, oblgation, and duty to charge the many "enemy combatants" as well as the leaders of sovereign nations with war crimes when the United States was the aggressor. Why would it not be the duty or obligation of the incoming administration to clear the the history of a distasteful period of America's abuses of power and get our nation on the track back to the once vauled reputation for advancing human rights? Only charging our own war criminals will prove to the world that Americans do not appove the tactics the Bush presidency used to acheive goals we do not even fully know at this time. Greed and pride are not reasons to kill and maim innocents.

  • Posted By: travelerONE @ 01/24/2009 6:55:55 PM

    Let's see...degrading and abusive behavior versus premeditated murder of women and children? My heart bleeds for these poor individuals...to bad I've retired from the military...would be nice to "not" have to take prisoners in the future, then their treatment would not be an issue for Sunday morning apologists!

  • Posted By: Robert1234 @ 01/24/2009 3:58:31 PM

    There is no real debate on torture. Its' wrong and it doesn't work. Those who participated in it, regardless of who told them it was okay, should be prosecuted and if found guilty, sentenced to not less than the same 7 years their victims have suffered. The national leadership should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. These people have ruined America for generations,by installing fake security, illegal spying, secret trails and an official act that allows the government to lie to its citizens. Our government can NEVER be trusted now, since they can officially lie about stopping the lies. The top guys, Bush, Cheney, etc. should be shipped to Iraq or Afghanistan for war crimes trials.

  • Posted By: CORELLIE @ 01/24/2009 6:31:04 AM

    DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW AMERICAN CHILDREN NOT ADULTS ARE TREATED IN THE UK? READ THE FRON PAGE SCOSMAN/ READ ABOUT THE DETENION CENTERS N SCOTLAND AND HOW AMERICAN BABIES ARE ORURED, WOMEN TORTURED BY MEN.
    SYMAPTHY ARE U KIDDING ME? CORELLIE BONHOMME

  • Posted By: Concerned Canadian @ 01/17/2009 9:43:13 AM

    Barack Hussein Obama will reduce the effectiveness of America's measures to protect itself from those who want to
    harm the mainland because of his stubborn conviction to grant human rights to terrorists.

    Barack Hussein Obama is a liability to the safety of the USA. Good luck you dumb Americans...you wanted him , well now you got him.

  • Posted By: Galasso @ 01/16/2009 5:16:13 PM

    This article should be viewed with suspicion because it is written by Heckle and Jeckle of the left and the original interview with Crawford was conducted by Woodward - who does not have the most sterling reputation for honesty in his reporting. In the original article in the Washington Post, Crawford bases her view of the interrogation on a very loose definition of 'torture' - sensory deprivation and a growling dog - which pales by comparison to what the other side uses. When Bush was in charge the interrogation methods were always dscribed in the most derogatory terms but now that Obama is taking the heat - Isikoff and Hosenball refer to it as a "delimma".

    • Posted By: jimbo3800 @ 01/16/2009 7:48:47 PM

      Yes, the coronation of The Messiah has not even taken place yet, but already the left-wing MSM is beginning to change their tone on a whole raft of things that Obama will do that are exactly the same as Bush...but it will be "different" now...

  • Posted By: BubbaK @ 01/14/2009 10:21:25 PM

    Is Obama legally vulnerable to impeachment if he does not pursue any violation of the torture law? Just curious from I thoretical poijnt of view. Don't think it will haopen because public officials don't have the backbone.

    • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 01/15/2009 10:37:10 AM

      The courts can force him to apply the law. If he still does not comply, then he can be impeached.

      • Posted By: BigTexan @ 01/15/2009 5:22:37 PM

        Only Congress has the power to impeach and remove a current (or former) President of the United States for any crimes commited in office. The courts cannot touch a sitting or former President until this action is taken. This has never happened so far in the history of the republic and probably never will.

        • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 01/16/2009 8:52:08 AM

          I didn't say the courts impeached him. I said they could force him to enforce the law. If he doesn't, he has committed an impeachable offense.

          Please restrict your comments to what I have actually said. I'd appreciate it.

          • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 01/16/2009 11:34:35 AM

            Actually since this is purely a judgement call on both Obama's and the Justice Departmetn's part, the courts could not force him to do anything.

            I would rather he do iniiate an investigation and if evidence warrants it, bring any violators to justice.

            • Posted By: Doc Howl @ 01/16/2009 11:45:09 AM

              It could be argued that upholding the law is not a judgement call.

              • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 01/16/2009 5:23:21 PM

                Doc,

                There have been several legal experts who have stated that the actios that Obama is talking about not starting an inquiry about happened before they were in violation of US law. That is what I meant by a judgement call. He may not be failing to uphold the law if the action took place before they were in violation. Also there needs to be a world court clarifiication of whether the detainiees are legally covered. I think they are, but that has not be definitively determined. There is a very real possibility that there may not be a clear determination and therefore the courts would not have the authority to order him to do anything. And the other probability is that the courts would NOT order him to do anything. The would probably rule that it is a judgement call as I have said.

                As I also said, I would prefer that he does do sonething if it is determined that there was a violation of the law. that has not yet been decided.

                My personal opinion is that torture was done, and htere is NEVER a valid reason for doing it, and I have heard many military officers agree with that. It does not matter whether our methods are not as harsh as those of our enemies. We aree not to torture, regardless of the reason. Anyone who says that it it is okay if it saves life is a fool and an enemy of the US Constitution, the USA, and our troops.

  • Posted By: death from above @ 01/15/2009 3:32:27 PM

    First, Let me state I am a former Army Ranger ,a graduate of the SERE school and very conservative in my politics. However in this case I fall into a middle ground on this topic. First, the definition of torture should always default to the most protective of the victim of the action. If we always define torture under the senario of terrorist with knowledge of a nuclear device we will often opt to allow whatever means to save the day. This is the wrong way to look at it. It should ALWAYS be illegal and those who perform interrogation of prisoners should be trained to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour. Now, that being said, an interrorgator who is working with the before mentioned senario with terror suspect who has knowledge of a nuclear device, has a personal choice to make, stick with the standards and live with the results whatever they are or put his/her own personal safety/future in peril by knowingly exceeding the standards thereby breaking the law, knowing that in the end the will suffer the fate of being guilty of a war crime but having perhaps saving the day. In war, soldiers are forced to make judgement calls that they have to live with and sometimes die for, whether it's firing into a crowd to take out an enemy using locals as human shields or perhaps being killed or watching buddies killed by the same enemy if they don't shoot into the crowd. At least with an interrogator the decisions can be made over a cup of coffee as opposed to the grunt making a life or death call with moral impact in a split second. Most of you have no idea what that's like and I guess I should be glad that enough of us take a stand that has meaning that we give the rest of you the time and luxury to argue about things which are just abstractions to you. If you really feel passion about this topic I'll quote Jack, "Pick up a rifle and stand a post".

    • Posted By: Galasso @ 01/16/2009 4:47:58 PM

      There is a gray area as relates to interrogation of battlefield detainees depending on the urgency of the situation. In the US Army we must always not become what we are trying to eliminate. So torture is not systemic in the handling of detainees. There is always the "time sensitive" scenario however where the detainee has information that could save lives - the ticking bomb situation. Most people are opposed to torture but if your loved ones will be executed withing a certain time period and a smirking, recalicitrant person in custody has the information that would allow you to act on it, but won't give it up - then it is quite understandable how an exception to policy can be effected "in extremis". De Oppresso Liber.

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