[Dean's World] Dave Price: Congress Authorized Torturing... *U.S. Troops*

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Congress Authorized Torturing... *U.S. Troops*
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1193857113.shtml


   That is, if you accept that waterboarding is torture. Uncle Jimbo at
   Blackfive [1]notes the irony in the fact the procedure is routinely
   used to train U.S. troops in resisting interrogation:

     If waterboarding is torture and torture is illegal, then didn't
     Congress break the law every year when they passed a military
     budget that contains funds specifically dedicated to conducting
     waterboarding as a matter of course?

   Hmmm, this explains Congress' record low approval ratings. Torturing
   our troops probably doesn't poll well.
   I'm curious how anti-waterboarding types feel about this. The military
   feels waterboarding is harmless enough that it can be used to
   condition U.S. soldiers to resist interrogation. So that begs a couple
   questions: are we going to treat terrorists with time-sensitive
   information hat could save American lives better than our own
   soldiers? Or are we going to ban the practice and leave our soldiers
   unprepared to resist interrogation, which could also cost lives?

References

   1. http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/10/my-increasing-s.html