Obama Delivers Address on National Security, Torture, Gitmo

[LOCO2957121]

SON FEOS

[joskemom]

So Pres Obama has defined waterboarding as torture. Is he going to forbid the navy seals to be waterboarding as part of their training? The word torture has been so 'watered down' that ANY discomfort of a terrorist can be considered torture. A guy who says it is ok to let a baby, who survived a botched abortion, to die on the table is going to talk to me about high moral standing?? When life is conceived is above his paygrade yet he is going to define words for me? Ah hell no.

[Bigstubby1]

No. Proper SERE techniques were designed to build resistance to the damage torture inflicts to allow our people to escape with minimal damage. They were not designed for and are not effective at extracting useful information. From a neurophysiological perspective, torture damages the brain such that reality is confused. It's similar to extreme post traumatic stress syndrome. Throughout history, torture has be used to extract false confessions. See CSPAN congressional testimony of SERE experts.

[joskemom]

I am tired of hearing Pres Obama whine on about his version of mistakes America has made in the past. The man is so full of himself. It is soo easy to 2nd and 3rd guess decesions made by Pres Bush as he was in the middle of a fight against al queda. Now that al queda has been reduced to a bunch of fools running around in the mountains Pres Holier-than-thou wants to cast judgements on the way Americans were kept safe. What the hell does Obama know about keeping us safe?

[LinFahrenheit2]

what do you know?

[Bleazy225]

Obama is a weak, knaive, empty suit that spews bumper stickers. Cheney is just telling the truth about what it took to keep US safe, Obama just wants to score political points, not to mention the fact that he wont release the info we got from the interogations. Oh and again putting underwear on someones head or dunking them in water is not torture, but beheading someone after beating and starving them is, Liberals are so phony, you could care less about safety for your country. Disgraceful.

[JuniorFactor]

I totally agree with Bleazy225. I don't understand Obama's political agenda and how it'll benefit anyone. Check out our channel and you'll see our reaction to torture and Gitmo.

[Bigstubby1]

Obama's strategy is a departure from the past and politically risky domestically but is the best strategy to stop the inevitable cycle of violence. By publically disavowing torture and detainee abuse he removes the single effective Al Qaida recruitment strategy for otherwise moderate muslims:that US morals and ideals are suspect and that the US policy is based on eradicating Islam. If you want an example of a destructive cycle of mutual violence I refer you to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

[sunsinger357]

Both Bush and Obama AND BOTH political parties have sold/are selling us ALL out with regards to our national debt! The debt is a far greater threat to our way of life than even terrorism. Check out the video I.O.U.S.A and fight back against the lack of leadership in our government.

[GaddingImp]

Obama = hope, Cheney = fear

Obama = follow laws, Cheney = break laws

Forget about Cheney. The people are on Obama's side. He needs to just focus on making plans to put into action.

[Taino187]

Dueling speaches...

Prez Obama is a Constitutional lawyer, I would tend to take his word over any "Dog Poop" coming out of Cheney's mouth anyday!

[Taino187]

Ahhh the national archives! A building Bush/Cheney never wanted to enter and avoided by every means possible since those horrible pieces of parchment dictating our laws, rights, rules of government, systems of powers, rules of engagement in wars etc are housed there.

DAMNED THOSE PIECES OF PARCHMENT... Cheney was heard muttering as he past by! Why cant we just rule this country with an IRON FIST like the Nazi's did theirs and the friggin Commies!

Ohh how i admire them... "Cheney wept!"

:)

[monetarydemise]

Can someone please explain to me what obama meant by this statement at 3:35 "If we fail to turn the page on the approach that was taken over the past (something) years... then I will not be able to say that as president" I have no idea what his answer means to his own question. The logic does not flow at all. I believe the teleprompter edited out the answer as he was speaking and replaced it with "i will not..." Anyone?

[incrowdcynic]

"I can stand here today as President of the United States and say without exception and equivocation, that we do not torture... ... ...If we fail to turn the page on the approach that was taken over the past several years, then I will not be able to say that."

[incrowdcynic]

Try to keep up.

[rmonclairwalker]

The Constitution, how can any American diminish the fundamentals of it, and speak poorly of a leader trying to reinstall the confidence of it?

How long do you think those terrorist prisoners would last in a US prison? Right now there in an all boys club of their own, put them into general population in a US jail and let prison politics deal with them.

[Rainsdad]

they aint going to gen-pop, they should just go in the ground, but they will prob end up in the fed. max. sec. fac. in Co. so the tax payers can support them here in America, why cant we support them in Cuba, why do we have to support them at all, but that takes me back to putting them in the ground.

[TheNoel]

When the president starts talking about a "climate of fear," I'm reminded of Patrick Swayze's character in Donnie Darko.

[Jerzeegeemoney]

Oh yea,someone needs to remind Cheney that over 500 detainees were RELEASED under the Bush /Cheney admin.Two out of three returned to fight.NONE have been released under Obama's watch.Cheney and the republicans should also be ashamed of politicizing terrorism and 911.

[Jerzeegeemoney]

I find it facinating when ppl say "not in my backyard!"Let me get this right it's o.k for CONVICTED murderers and rapist to be in "your backyard" in the prison down the road but it's not ok to house "terrorist" who have never been given due process or charged with anything in the prison down the road???..What ?

[beaglenuts55]

Fabulous! Cheney handed Obama his ass today.

[tonyback2tony]

You may not like him, but this guy just has a way of speaking that makes me believe that although my car isn't working, my job is closing down in 2 weeks, & I'm probably going to loose my house, everything is going to be alright.

[MarkG45]

yea, but its not

[Critic101]

Like it or not, we do have to except some a lot of the responsibility for our actions with gitmo. And Im very proud that our President is trying to set the wrong things right! But for some of you idiots, its easy to look the other way and blame everyone else for the mistakes that were made. Grow up!

[Critic101]

Some people are so blind. Im stationed here in gitmo and Im sure of two things, we do have some dangerous terrorist here, but we also have some detainees here who WHERE wrongly captured and placed in prison for 7 years without being charged. Some detainees where not even captured by our troops, they were captured by so called bounty hunters from their native countries and SOLD to the U.S. as enemy combatants! Basically we paid for innocent people to be detaineed in gitmo....

[musicalcolin]

W00T!!! What a speech!! Obama is finally removing a significant blemish on the United States, which is a very good thing. Now we just have to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The mess the Bush administration left is undeniable, as is the fact that under the Bush administrations more Americans died than under any other.

[dkkght46]

This is what you get when you have an ideological inexperienced empty suit running for president, and an empty-headed uneducated clueless electorate that elects him. The only thing Obamas ever run is his mouth, and thats the ONE thing he wont quit doing. Its all he knows.

[AstoundedAtheist]

Oh please......

Where is the off switch, on this broken record player?

[AmericanSlytherin]

Guess what, nobody's escaped a federal supermax prison. Ergo therefore, the terrorists can be imprisoned on the mainland. It's not a big deal to lock up terrorists in American prisons when you are the greatest country of all time, which we are.

[TedinLasVegas]

Gitmo created more terrorists? How STUPID!?!?!?!?

9/11 created more terrorists.

[dkkght46]

The terrorist were created prior to 9/11.

[TedinLasVegas]

Hasty decision???

Yes, like electing a nobody with no personal accomplishment and no executive experience as president.

[milkgodnl]

TedInLasVegas,

'sounds like your describing the previous president. 'time to turn the page good buddy.

[Mychaels]

Ya and your chimp trained George Bush did better with his knowledge. Do not even lie that you love Bush.

[dkkght46]

A smart person never dives into unknown waters without first checking the depth of the water below the surface. Obama leapt before he looked when he announced the closing of Gitmo. And he did it to score cheap political points with Europe and the Code Pink crowd. He didnt have a plan to close Gitmo BEFORE announcing its closure, his dive into unknown waters is likely to end up badly. Even if he doesnt bash his head on rocks below the surface, hes likely to come up with mud on his face.

[AstoundedAtheist]

Unknown waters? I think the situation is well understood.....

[dkkght46]

Well then how about you volunteering to have them move right in next to you since they are wrongly accussed! You have a problem with that?

[AstoundedAtheist]

Where would you want to go if you were wrongly imprisoned for the past 6 years, dkkght46? Im pretty sure they would rather go home to their families.

;-)

[dkkght46]

Thats not what I wrote, c'mon be a man and with your apathy lets move them into your neighborhood, nothing wrong with that right?

And if they do decide to enter your house and decide to slice your throat please do not say what every goood atheist says just before dying and that "God help me."

But they are innocent peaceful souls and wrongly accused so they would not do such a thing so there is no problem.

Can't go home, no one wants them haven't you heard!

[AstoundedAtheist]

Oh, Im sorry, dkkght46. I was unaware that you know every single Gitmo detainee on a personal level. Grow up, friend.

[ehkinoh]

yeah... they wont be sent home... they will be sent to our neighborhoods...?

no, they'd be sent to supermax prisons while awaiting trial.

What a dumbass. gtfo with your fear mongering.

[oliverb2009]

I'm a conservative who supports what President Obama has done so far. Thanks God for education.

[taoofmichael]

All conservatives should be VERY happy with Obama. He is MUCH LESS RADICAL than George Bush, and MUCH MORE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE.

[duvalians1]

" He is MUCH LESS RADICAL than George Bush, and MUCH MORE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE."

What, where are you getting your facts from?

[ver506]

Good for you!

[PharaohNineD]

So funny..., cheney and kid are afraid and blathering on about it worked. We kept the country safe after leaving it open for attack. So look into it but, don't investigate, and you will see.

Meanwhile silly groups are busting the presidents tea bags about not investigating. Hey um, you do know you can call on congress and stuff to investigate torture and any wrong doings of the past? I think the Obama admin wont block any of it. 8yrs of mess to deal with he is busy right now.

[Chewy240284]

I LOVE THIS BLACK MAN!!!!!

[SubmarinerAndroid]

By refusing to uphold the law, Obama ENSURES that a future President will torture. His pledge that it will not happen while he is around does us no good in the long run.

[SubmarinerAndroid]

Oh and by the way, some of the prisoner abuse pics which Obama is hiding have leaked:

telegraph(dot)co(dot)uk/news/p­icturegalleries/worldnews/5330­481/New-outrage-over-Iraq-pris­on-abuse-photographs(dot)htm

Eliminate ALL spaces & replace ALL (dot) with .

[Rrinman]

Obama is awesome.

[zndprophet]

It's not ethos or pathos that makes Obama's speeches good. It's logos.

[mexcurmudgeon]

Of course, keeping open a base from which to torture in Afghanistan isn't allowing torture, right, Mr. Obama? Of course continuing the practice of rendition - kidnapping people and shipping them to countries like Egypt to be tortured isn't allowing torture, is it?

He's so full of crap. My country used to stand for higher ideals. Even if we couldn't always live up to them, we at least tried to be moral in practice. It's a shame almost none of our politicians give a damn about those ideals.

[taoofmichael]

I think its best to wait for some evidence to support your accusations, before spouting off.

But, I admit, that is a utopian fantasy.

Republicans, and Ron Paulers, will continue to accuse Obama of doing bad things, without evidence, just because they can. Thats free speech. But me? I'm waiting for the evidence. And I think the American people are with me on that.

[abarzilai664]

How about this watch?v=fSdj4Lu_oo8 and this watch?v=53Ysu30pjMA

[3star2nr]

did you even watch the speech?

[dogstar7]

mexcurmudgeon

There is nothing sinister or particularly hypocritical about the continuation of detention and rendition operations at the "Bagram Theater Internment Facility" in Afghanistan.

We ARE still at war, you realize.

Obama has specifically discontinued the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques", or any technique not outlined in the DoD Army Field Manual.

For you to claim anything different requires more than idle speculation and 'tortured logic'

[1samothrace77]

he banned torture, not rendition and bagram is not constitutional without trials.

[zidmt]

Wise words from an intelligent man. How refreshing

[SkyDaddy7]

Obama laid waste to Cheney and his insane policy of TORTURE!