Chamblee54

This content was posted December 24, 2008. … Vanity Fair has a good story about torture. This is one part of the Bush regime that has brought a lot of criticism. The focus of the article is not morals, or whether torture is justified. The thrust of the article is whether or not torture gets good information. On this issue, there seems to be a lot of macho posturing, and talk show hosts who think that torturing the bad guys is a great idea. Many in the intelligence community have a different opinion.
The ticking bomb scenario gets a rundown. You have heard this scenario. A terror suspect is arrested, and knows where the nuke is planted. Is torture justified to disarm the device? “Inside the C.I.A., says a retired senior officer who was privy to the agency’s internal debate, there was hardly any argument about the value of coercive methods: “Nobody in intelligence believes in the ticking bomb. It’s just a way of framing the debate for public consumption. That is not an intelligence reality.”
There is also the concept that men who are being tortured will say anything to make the suffering stop. What they tell you is not always the truth. Also, when a man is captured, the plans are going to change. … Several high profile cases are discussed. One was a person, who apparently was a greeter at a safe house for Al Queda. Our forces got the idea that he was important, and, after “extraordinary interrogation”, he confessed to a connection between Pre-invasion Iraq and Al Queda. This was one of the arguments that was used to promote the invasion.
There is going to be a new man in the white house soon. How he deals with the torture issue (and the erosion of the rights of American Citizens) remains to be seen. BHO seems to stick his finger in the air before making a decision, and to see what political advantage can be made. The recent episode with Slick Rick Warren is a good example. America and the world is waiting to see what happens.
This content was posted December 19, 2008. … A great deal has been said recently about BHO and his choice of a player pray-er for the inauguration. … A bit of perspective is in order. BHO has been dogged by rumors that he is a Muslim. He claimed as his “spiritual mentor” a man who entertains his church by screaming rude things about the United States. When it was no longer to his advantage to associate with Jeremiah Wright, BHO dumped him, and won the election.
It is time for his inauguration. He chooses Rick Warren to offer a prayer. Rick rhymes with slick. He has built an empire church, sold millions of books, and is frequently photographed without a tie. He condemned gay marriage, and told a few lies in the process. His choice as the First Pray-er is rather controversial. … Very few seem to think about Jesus. What sort of statement does Rick Warren praying for BHO make about Jesus? … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Fritz Henle took the social media picture in November 1942. “Nurse training. A student nurse stands by ready to assist the doctor as he changes a metal tube in a patient’s throat (patient is suffering from inflammation of trachea caused by diptheria or other diseases)” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah