Meanwhile, in the ongoing Democrat war against the CIA…
…the House Democrats tried to sneak a provision into an intelligence bill that would ban and criminalize any interrogation tactic that a prosecutor subjectively believes is “degrading,” including but not limited to itemized practices such as “prolonged isolation,” “exploiting the phobias” of an individual, and the mere presence of dogs (nothing about pigs, but my guess is that would be a no-no as well).
Some alert Republicans protested:
“This will fundamentally change the nature of the intelligence community by creating a criminal statute governing interrogations,” said Rep. Pete Hoesktra (R-Mich.).
He added that it had appeared “out of nowhere” in a manager’s amendment.
“Would someone on the other side please explain the rationale behind this and why the majority was unwilling to have hearings on this issue?” he said.
Lo and behold, the addition was pulled this evening.
In a perfect karmic world, a nice slice of Democrats supporting such idiocy in congress would be loaned to al Qaeda for a few days of ‘care’.
Hey, we all have our dreams.
Appalling! This had to have Pelosi’s blessing — it may have even been her idea. Which side are they on?
the House Democrats tried to sneak a provision into an intelligence bill that would ban and criminalize any interrogation tactic that a prosecutor subjectively believes is “degrading,”
Any mention of MSNBC or The View in this context?
It’s stupid, even by Democrat standards. Prince Hussein having nailed his colors to the mast of the good ship Kumbaya, the security services are therefore the only thing between him and electoral Armageddon. He needs them to be mas effective. Hobbling them in their anti-terrorism efforts just increases the chances of His Highness being run out of DC on a rail. Stupid.
Which side are they on?
Not the side of the USA. This has been proven to a mathematical certainty over the last five years or so, if not longer.
What NeoConScum said.
The authors of that proposal feel that the US in invulnerable, therefore it can afford do do things JUST SO. Sentiments of invulnerability can also be viewed as delusions of grandeur.
Delusions of grandeur Gringo, how could anyone associate Obmessiah and his minions with delusions of grandeur?
We are as reptiles before him.
Sounds like a fanatical Leftoid staffer got a little too excited and thought he could stick one in there while no one was looking. Peckerhead.
I wish we could ship them off to the litterbox of the Middle East and leave them there with no water or camels.
Beverly Those children would not last till breakfast in the Middle East. Read what Prof. Rubin has to say about Obama and the ME over at RubinReports. I will sum it up in lay terms, Obama is more than just a complete idiot, he is also a weakling, which in the Middle East is the equivalent holding a target over one’s chest with a sign saying shoot here.
I will be surprised if the Iraqis don’t bow out to the Iranians simply because they know Obama will not protect them. Ditto for everyplace else in the ME.
“Lo and behold, the addition was pulled this evening.”
Funny how some things change when they’re brought into the light… 😳
Funny…Ya know, the “Timing” of that little grift whilst the WH Shuck & Jive-Flim-Flam show was happening.
In time of War, they aren’t serious people, nor even patriotic.
Gringo…How’bout a sampling from the Idiot Side of the House loaned to The Taliban for..ohhh…say, 3-days ? More than time enough for the loonies to re-evaluate what “Torture” is, I suspect. 🙂
Look, they’re DUMB. You cannot beat the kind of dumb they are. A friend told me it took three generations for the politburo to reach this level of dumb. I pointed out in “civil service” (and other fields I could name) we’ve had three generations of undisputed left dominance that pick for correct opinions and not a dissenting thought. So we’re in the same position. These people were bred (Or the older ones picked) for “yes, sir or ma’am”, not brains.
The result is not only stupidity — and I mean stupidity. If anyone can find a recording of Nancy P’s visit to Iran way back, she crossed herself in a mosque and it was filmed. I’ve known since then what kind of dumb we were up against — but also this belief everyone in the world is nice (not “decent” which is a classical liberal belief — that most people are as “decent” — fair minded, generous, caring — as their circumstances allow) in a smiley face, we’re in kindergarten and if we’re nice to them they’ll be nice to us and we’ll all share toys type of way.
On top of that, the golden boy at the top right now was not only bred but GROOMED to be there by these people. This means a) dumb (no, really. I think what people identify as smart is his “group identifier” noises. He’s learned to sound smart, but really, I think he’s post dumb. For which we should give thanks on knees.) b)convinced everyone is nicey-nice c) convinced he’s special d) convinced no one will say no to him.
Part of this is saving our bacon. They can’t push through what they’d like the way they like because they’re not working with the real US but with a country that exists only in their minds.
Part of this is ruining us. These children never had to watch their money. They have no concept of money. Like my kids when they were two and we went to the grocery store. “But mom, the candy bar is less than a million, why can’t we have it?”
And part of this is putting us at risk because they believe there’s some sort of reciprocity in the world and if they’re nice to savages the savages will sit down and play patta-cake with them.
November can’t come soon enough.
The american left has a total obsession with the CIA. Years ago my wife and I took an off-season vacation in the Caribbean on the island of Dominica.
The only other guest at the very nice Pappiote restot was a young american college student from Wisconsin who was bumming his way around the tropics. He said he left Costa Rica because he knew that the CIA was really running the place.
Not trying to get in an argument I suggest that the biggest thing the US ever did to harm the area was subsidies for the US sugar industry. He ignored us after that.
The left cannot see the CIA as a legitimate arm of the US government, but rather as some kind of shadow government out of the movies.
President Obama, or who ever he or she may be in the future, should have the say so to coerce interrogation methods like water-boarding in cases where lives can be saved, and with this duty the president must be responsible for what happens to the prisoner, if the prisoner is permanent harmed or died then this could become a criminal matter against the President, and most importantly no matter what happens this can not become a standard procedure but should remain an option in rare, and I mean rare, instances, again the President should be the decision-maker on the matter, must be responsible for it, and it should never become standard practice.
DirtyJobsGuy:
Right. To the Left, the CIA, big business, “Bush lied”, etc., are easy, convenient catch-phrases requiring little, or no, thinking.
The point has been made, law or law and it will take a very long time for this to blow over.
Congress may have a low rating but the American people are no great shakes either. The latter will forget, if they ever know.
If I was member of the US military or intelligence communities I would be looking for a new job and the devil take the hindmost.
nyomythus:
I agree, except that, given the urgency of cases like this, I’d prefer more leeway for the little guy.
Let it be understood that unnecessary torture will not be tolerated. Let CIA operatives, and US military personnel, understand that, if they do something that looks like torture and save lives as a result, they’ll be considered the heroes they are… but that if they do so for no good reason, they’ll be treated like the cockroaches they are.
In short: by all means, let interrogators have strong reasons to fear using coercion unnecessarily. But don’t tie their hands. Let them do what needs to be done to save lives… and, if they screw up, make them pay for screwing up.
On a different level, Stephen den Beste explained a while back that we should never tell our enemies what we won’t do. Let the terrorists believe that, if they provoke us enough, we could nuke Mecca without warning. If that stops them from provoking us, that’s a good thing, is it not?
(And no, we don’t need to “prove good will” on such matters. The terrorists never bother with that, do they? And it should be obvious that we don’t want to torture prisoners, or conquer a country to steal its oil, or any of the other things we pre-emptively accuse ourselves of doing. If we wanted to do these things, we would do them on a regular basis. We don’t. ‘Nuff said.)
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
I wish we could know what House Member was responsible for inserting this language. It’s a despicable effort. Hoekstra is to be commended for bringing it to the light of day and opposing it. I’ve always been impressed with him. F
Just answered my own question: Jim McDermitt of Washington State. Can we trade Washington for British Columbia? F
The left cannot see the CIA as a legitimate arm of the US government, but rather as some kind of shadow government out of the movies.
But they never had the same kind of issues with the KGB, Stasi, DGI, etc. Funny thing, that. Wonder why…
It’s shameful what the CIA did in Nicaragua in the 80’s but that doesn’t mean they can be a force for protecting people in America today. Seems they have been making a change for the better.
I want the name of the traitor! There’s a job opening at Sea World – when you behave like a shark – swim with them.
Cybersecurity bill to give president new emergency powers
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/83961-forthcoming-cybersecurity-bill-to-give-president-new-powers-in-cyberattack-emergencies
It’s shameful what the CIA did in Nicaragua in the 80’s but that doesn’t mean they can be a force for protecting people in America today.
Sorry, I’m not going to let that one slide. To me, trying to get rid of the Sandinistas is something to be applauded, not ashamed of. It’s certainly possible to question whether the methods were the ones the U.S. should have selected, but I have no argument with the ultimate goal.
Great a cabal of useful idiots making laws the would neutralize our defenses, this time they were caught. Go to RubinReports (refer to the experiences concerning 4th grade education) and read how they are indoctrinating the next generation to hate America. We are in a genuine war against a subculture of elitism.
“Shameful” what they did in Nicaragua in the ’80s?
Whew. You mean like helping to bring the Communists to overreach and agree to internationally supervised elections? Which led, in turn, to the establishment of a far more representative gov’t?
Even with the Left-Lout Ortega currently back in the presidency, it ain’t like the halcyon days of Sandanista-Communist Rule.
Here’s a nasty little ‘troot: Our CIA & Black Ops people aren’t supposed to be nicey-nice, play fair with scumbags and follow the freaking rules. Duhhh.