Chris Wallace interviewing Tom Donilon (White House National Security Advisor)

Why is waterboarding inconsistent with our values, but shooting Osama Bin Laden in the head NOT inconsistent with our values? Bill O'Reilly originally asked this question this way:

"It is ironic that many on the far left openly celebrated the death of bin Laden. So, guys, let me get this straight: It's OK for U.S. forces to shoot a terrorist in the head, but it's not OK to waterboard him if lives are in danger? Good grief."

It's a great question... and my follow-up question...

if Bin Laden was NOT armed, why didn't we capture him and use enhanced interrogation techniques on him in an attempt to save innocent lives? Is Obama more into revenge and/or capital punishment than preventing future terrorist attacks?

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Waterboarding
• Bin
• Laden
• Chris
• Wallace
• Tom
• Donilon
• White
• House
• National
• Security
• Advisor

[mollesjohn]

The mission was a kill mission. Now we hear Bin Laden was unarmed. I guess he thought we'd capture him, and with Obama in office, he wouldn't be interrogated with enhanced interrogation techniques. Naturally Bin Laden had information that could save innocent lives, but Obama fooled him -- he declared a kill mission. In essence, Obama put out a wanted poster on Osama Bin Laden:

WANTED, DEAD or DEAD.

No political flak for Obama about getting info from Bin Laden if Bin Laden isn't even alive.

[mollesjohn]

Obviously THIS enemy, not only tortures, but beheads people. They have no qualms about torturing people to death. None.

Now we make then gasp for air, don't injure them physically, and we don't do it out of hatred or revenge, but to save the lives of innocent people. And it has. And it led to the capture of the guy who murdered 3000 completely innocent men, women, and children during peacetime. Wait a minute, correction, it led to Obama ordering our soldiers to kill Bin Laden dead, no trial.

[SuperShockjock]

Killing the guy who admitted he planned the 911 attacks and torturing enemy soldiers is completely different. We would have killed Hitler in an instant to help end the war but we never tortured captured Nazi soldiers.

[mollesjohn]

@SuperShockjock I think perhaps you are a little naive. And it also sounds like you don't know that a combat soldier in the field out of uniform is considered a spy. Know what they did to spies?

Did you know part of the training of some of our forces is to go through waterboarding? Did you know we waterboarded fewer enemy combatants than journalists?

If your mother was held for ransom and you saw her being tortured on webcam, and you caught one of her captures, what would you do?

[tweakingit]

If we are at war with Al Qaeda why is Its Flag flying over the capital of Libya.

[darthrhom]

Because we signed an agreement stating how we would treat POWs. OBL was an enemy combatant fair game for one to the dome.

[mdshort]

@cvict6

Spelling and grammar not your strong point?

[cvict6]

@mdshort

"learned the nickname of bin Laden's courier ... from a detainee ... who WE believe was not tortured"

Who is "we?" And why use the word "believe" instead of "know." Go look up Panetta's quote. Its available directly from him, not through John McCain's hearsay/gossip. Add to the fact that McCain has been a VERY vocal critic of waterboarding, and you're "evidence" is even more useless. Why don't you just accept the facts?

Funny you source the washington post and accuse me of quoting Fox.

[SuperShockjock]

@mollesjohn There have been 10's of thousands of completely innocent men, women, and children killed by US and NATO forces the last 10 years - they call it collateral damage. Invading 2 countries to get a few nutjobs is retarded foreign policy, Obama proves how it should be handled by special ops, killing the head retards.

I would suggest you get waterboarded and see how gasping for air works for you.....

[mdshort]

@cvict6 Did you copy/paste this out of a Fox News quote book?

[mdshort]

@cvict6 I am no fan of John McCain. Today he has a piece in the Washington Post "Torture didn't get Osama bin Laden".

... McCain says, citing information he says he got directly from CIA director Leon Panetta. The trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from KSM... . Intelligence officials first learned the nickname of bin Laden's courier ... from a detainee ... who we believe was not tortured. None of the three detainees who were waterboarded provided Abu Ahmed's real name ...