Legalization of Torture Part 2

[SurvivalWithBushcraf]

No long paragraph from me just this.

NO TORTURE!!!!!!!

[55ella2007k]

Exactly. The Dept of Justice just cleared Jay Bybee + John Yoo , the two lawyers who wrote the infamous torture memos, of any wrong doing and professional misconduct. This is outrageous. And Bybee is now a sitting federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, one the highest courts in the land.

[pirbird14]

If the US government were truly opposed to torture, they would have shut down the School of the Americas a long time ago.

[GOTTshua]

All members of senate and congress are bought and paid for (minor exemptions of a few). There will be no action through them. They are only good at inaction in the guise of action while banking their enormous paychecks & loving their benefits.

Public servant for the people?\

Don't make me laugh.

[GOTTshua]

This country will NEVER admit or take responsibility for any covert torture, be it against native tribes, the Black Panthers, or any other citizen, or earthling. 

One day soon, this nation will stand alone before God, and then there will be no excuse, passing the buck, or historical blanket apology that amounts to squat.

[55ella2007k]

Torture is very effective in ONE way, and one way only: as an intimidation tactic. Once you start leaving a few mutilated bodies on the road to the village, the villagers get the message: speak out, and the same thing will happen to you! A person being tortured, on the other hand, will say virtually anything to make it stop. Torture of any kind, whether physical or psychological, is not only morally reprehensible to start with, but it produces false results.

[55ella2007k]

A current case in point is the water-boarding of this 'high level detainee' , who after being subjected to waterboarding 166 times, confessed to every crime imaginable, even though the crimes he confessed to, would have been impossible for him to carry out, since he would have been about 8 years old at the time.

[55ella2007k]

Furthermore, the entire foundation of western law, is based on the non-admittance of evidence obtained under torture or co-ersive techniques since the age of enlightenment, hundreds of years ago. Our entire nation was founded on these principles - REGARDLESS of what other nations practice. Two wrongs cannot make a right. The rationalization, that if others DO it, then we should do it as well, flies in the face of every human rights argument we EVER made + it is nothing less than hypocrisy.

[Neurolanis]

Very informative videos, thanks for sharing. There's always reason to be optimistic, and certainly spreading the truth and speaking from the heart is half the battle. Well done.

[laurieannek]

Torture is proven it doesn't work. The US has engaged in this since the Koran war (per someone who told me, he was an x black op). if the US soliders didn't allow the torture they would be killed and then call it an accident or say the person took their own life.

The US should not allow torture (period).

[tenebroust]

I can't improve upon this Ella. You have heard that there is an attempt by the current powers to justify there actions by averring that the Japanese used similar techniques against our troops during WWII. Torture or any euphemism for it should be roundly CONDEMNED because it will, as I've said before, set a dangerous precedent. If a defendant in a criminal case is accused of something that could be averted or mitigated by "torture" of that suspect then it WILL happen.

[jinjin16]

both

[jinjin16]

torture will always be present regardless of right or wrong for the reason of its effectiveness. as long as there is a military there is torture.

[angryislander56]

what effectiveness?

Has any ever been proven?

Effective as info gathering or intimidation?

[55ella2007k]

jinjin16: this depends on how you define 'effectiveness'

Please realize, that not all members of the military are in favor of torture, for the simple reason, that it will impact them as well. I guess, I will need to do follow-up vid on this, expressing the opinions of highly trained military professionals regarding the SERE training program. In the meantime, do some studying on your own. You do not win the hearts + minds of the perceived 'enemy' via torture...quite the opposite is true.

[jinjin16]

I did not make this comment to get praises or a plus on the icon. I am merely making a statement that torture has always been present and will always be present as long as there is a military force in any country. Can someone tell me a time in history where a military force has never used torture?

My point is as long as there are military conflicts in the world, there will always be torture as a process of intimidation and or info gathering. The rest are politics and public opinion. sorry.

[55ella2007k]

jinjin16: no, I understand your point. The same can be said of discrimination - this has also happened throughout history. Does this then imply that we cannot at least try to change this? Should we just shrug our shoulders and just forget about it? I for one, cannot do this.

[jinjin16]

It is a nice and noble thing what you are trying to attempt but unfortunately a waste of energy to be honest. I strongly believe that there is only one way to solve such problems such as discrimination, racism and torture as such and that is economic prosperity and fair trade (not free trade with how todays free trade function)

True capitalism at its ethical form that incorporate other isms that can benefit all citizens. That is the real challenge and the rest will fall in to place.

[darkkittycry]

I've said this like 50 times in comments, but I'll say it again. TORTURE NEVER WORKS because people will confess to ANYTHING when tortured. Torture is a method that just gives the state a warm body to blame for something...they don't care if guilt exists.

[buddhagem]

The last president that tried taking on the CIA got killed. We really do need to push for this, though. It's no small matter.

[55ella2007k]

buddahgem: no, it is not a small matter at all. I was thinking the same thing....as to why Obama went to CIA in such a PUBLIC way. I'm sure, he knows, because he's not stupid. The stakes are very, very high indeed.

[MiranUT]

Indeed, no small matter. I've been doing research for a paper, and even though I knew the CIA has been involved in major un-American operations, I'm shocked about what I've learned recently. It's connection to/creation of Al-Qaeda, destruction of documents that the 9/11 Commission wanted and basically obstructing the investigation... is Al-Qaeda a cover for the CIA? That's where my research is leading me.

[55ella2007k]

MiranUT: thanks for commenting.  I'm glad to hear that you are doing some research. All of this has a very long history, dating back to the Cold War, where the use of proxy-armies was perfected. Check out what happened in South-America during the 1970's , where right-wing death squads were trained to kill civilians. They were trained at the School of Americas in the US. Google it. And take your time...the information is all there...but you won't hear about it in the mainstream news...

[lloydmer]

MiranUT: to answer your last question - yes. Also, watch "War on Democracy" by John Pilger on google video. It's about what the CIA and multi-corporations have done to South America.

[cowboycarl04]

And remember he also took on the Federal Reserve by trying to bring back the role of government in printing money using silver. The first thing LBJ did after swearing into office was to kill the executive order by JFK to have the government use silver for money.