The U.S. should not torture detainees, whether they be covered by the Geneva Convention or not. The CIA memos released by the Obama administration on the interrogation tactics proposed for use on terrorist detainees during the Bush administration are shocking in that methods so mild should cause controversy so massive. The "torture" methods include face slapping, face holding, and something called the "attention grasp," which involves an interrogator grabbing the lapels of the interrogated and bringing him toward the interrogator (presumably while the interrogator yells at him). Sorry, this isn't torture. When the Japanese force-marched thousands of Westerners for a week without food or water during the Bataan Death March, that was torture. When the Chinese government uses electric shocks on Falun Gong prisoners, that is torture. When the CIA proposes unleashing caterpillars on Abu Zubaydah because they understand him to have an irrational fear of creepy-crawlies, that's not torture. It's a variant on the Monty Python Spanish Inquisition skit.

What about water boarding, is that torture?

No water boarding isn't torture either and thankfully our President doesn't feel that it is worth pursuing.
Are you scared of bugs by the way?

Bugs that sting, yes.

Nice post. Thanks

Actually after WW2 I think some Japanese were put on trial for waterboardering American POWS.

As a couple of the talking heads pointed out this morning,what was the value of releasing these memos?
Several former heads of the CIA have come out uniformly against it. This was purely political theater being played by the messiah and his followers.

You're dead right, Mr. Flynn.

The fact that such a huge issue has been made of discomforts so trivial is, in my opinion, an indication of an underlying weakness, an extreme squeamishness, in our culture that I think will ultimately destroy us.

The Japanese who were on trial for torturing allied POW's were not tried for water-boarding. They were tried for TORTURE which is uncomparable to something that leaves no physical injury. While those criminals may have used water-boarding as a technique to extract information from their prisoners they were not punished for using that technique alone. Don't stretch the truth so far that it is ridiculous; it doesn't make for good argument.

Obama and his puppeteers are very dangerous people.

The "Hate America" Left is quick to condemn their own country for alleged "torture" techniques that are about two shades higher on the annoyance scale than harsh language. But not a peep when American POW's in Vietnam where having their limbs broken, were being shocked by electrodes attached to their testicles, having their te@th pulled or knocked out, having their finger nails pulled out with pliers....you get the picture. But those were just Americans actually being tortured.

Mike, whose stretching the truth? I'm pointing out that it is something that we prosecuted people for before. Just because it was one of many other charges the Japanese faced doesn't make a difference. We considered it bad enough to charge them with it to begin with.

Again they were not prosecuted for water-boarding. Please get that straight. There was no count of criminal water-boarding on the docket. We felt it they needed to be charged with torture and a number of other charges. Water-boarding is a mild interrogation technical. Even in the memos that were released you can see that.
By pointing out the most mild item that the Japanese used and implying that a person should be charged with torture for using it you are stretching the truth. Why don;t we accept the change as it is and let Pres. Obama not charge these people who were following legally valid orders that were backed by legal authority. Don't throw the "following order" argument in there and relate the CIA to the Nazi's now. What I am saying is that about 2 dozen terrorists were interrogated with these technique, who are still alive, and the information lead to stopping other attacks.
Get over it, it's done, and apparently Pres Obama doesn't feel the need to pursue it. I didn't vote for him but I do agree with him on this point.

Apparently I didn't quite do a good job with the spell check. Get over that too.

Funny, I never mentioned anything about Obama or CIA guys not being held accountable. So take a pill, have a drink or whatever it is you use to calm down.
So let's see, testimony of WW2 soldiers about being waterboarded and the Japanese were convicted,that doesn't mean we felt waterboardering was torture. The fact that we included it along with all the other things they did...well...that doesn't mean we thought it was torture?
Grow up Mike.

How about this if you don't want to admit you're wrong about WW2 and waterboarding. In the early 80's a Texas sheriff and his men got 10 years in prison for waterboarding. Oh...but just because they were convicted of it doesn't mean they did anything wrong right?

Since you brought it up, I think Obama made the right choice in not holding the agents accountable. They were instructed it was legal, which is quite different than following an order that they knew was illegal.

By the way, re-read my first post because I slam the fact that the memos were released to begin with. They serve no purpose now except to stir up trouble.

"Since you brought it up, I think Obama made the right choice in not holding the agents accountable. They were instructed it was legal, which is quite different than following an order that they knew was illegal."

So shut your mouth already and smoke something.

Mike, I'm guessing you're around 14 or 15 or a very disturbingly immature adult.

LOL....telling someone to shut up online really isn't that effective. You want to show some class just admit you were wrong and let go.

Holy crap! How will we survive when we're debating the merits or horrors of water boarding? A technique that has been proven to render results and save American lives? Maybe we won't.