Enhanced Interrogation = torture: McCain gets his ethics back
by John MacBeath Watkins
For me personally, the worst thing that's happened to my country in my lifetime isn't wars based on lies (Viet Nam and Iraq) or the terrorist attack against this country that was used to justify the second of those wars, despite the tragic deaths they caused, but the fact that the president of the United States made torture the official policy of my country, which is supposed to stand against such things.
So it was a relief to find that John McCain, who muzzled himself against the Bush-Cheney policy of torture when he was running for president, has got his ethics back:
For those who cannot watch videos, McCain refers to "'enhanced interrogation' i.e. torture," points out that we got no useful information through torture, that it is illegal, and that it is harmful to the United States.
McCain, himself a victim of torture when he was held prisoner in North Viet Nam, has for most of his career had a clear and admirable record on the issue. The exception was the period when he was running for president as a republican, and was aware of the feelings of the Republican base on the topic.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2008/02/20/19702/mccain-torture-veto/
He voted against a law that would have specifically outlawed watherboarding in Feb. 2008. I find this impossible to understand unless he thought voting for it would endanger his electoral prospects.
It's nice to see the old McCain back. It would be nicer if CNN and the rest of the mainstream media has been willing to call torture by its name while it was happening.
For me personally, the worst thing that's happened to my country in my lifetime isn't wars based on lies (Viet Nam and Iraq) or the terrorist attack against this country that was used to justify the second of those wars, despite the tragic deaths they caused, but the fact that the president of the United States made torture the official policy of my country, which is supposed to stand against such things.
So it was a relief to find that John McCain, who muzzled himself against the Bush-Cheney policy of torture when he was running for president, has got his ethics back:
For those who cannot watch videos, McCain refers to "'enhanced interrogation' i.e. torture," points out that we got no useful information through torture, that it is illegal, and that it is harmful to the United States.
McCain, himself a victim of torture when he was held prisoner in North Viet Nam, has for most of his career had a clear and admirable record on the issue. The exception was the period when he was running for president as a republican, and was aware of the feelings of the Republican base on the topic.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2008/02/20/19702/mccain-torture-veto/
He voted against a law that would have specifically outlawed watherboarding in Feb. 2008. I find this impossible to understand unless he thought voting for it would endanger his electoral prospects.
It's nice to see the old McCain back. It would be nicer if CNN and the rest of the mainstream media has been willing to call torture by its name while it was happening.
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