Jane Mayar's major article
"Outsourcing Torture" in the latest New Yorker has been much discussed. I noticed that over on freerepublic the Agence France Presse cover of Mayer's article was posted by a certain
ainitfunny. It won't come as any surprise to readers here that the freepers were positively underwhelmed by the news. Even so, the comments posted there were so repellent that it is hard not to be disturbed. That faction evidently is ready and eager to plumb the depths of depravity, and they view any talk about human rights as a liberal plot. It is worthwhile perusing their comments on this subject to remind ourselves of exactly why we must remain committed to fighting this gang tooth and nail, and why compromise with their leadership in DC is nearly impossible on the great issues of the day. Below the break, I catalogue some of the more egregious freeper comments. I guess I'm just at the end of my tether with the superpatriots' embrace of torture, and so I'm ranting in the most effective way I know--by shining the spotlight on those I loathe.
For those who haven't read Mayer, she details the Bush administration's increasingly frequent use of "extraordinary rendition" to ship various suspects overseas to repressive countries where they will be interrogated through torture. The AFP story is pretty strong stuff too. So here are some representative comments posted on Free Republic in response to it:
Some freepers are naturally want to assist their government in any way they can. Here is one, whose tagline ("Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.") occasioned much merriment among like-minded souls:
"If hooking up a terrorist's scrotum to a car's battery cables will save one American GI's life, then I have just two things to say": "Red is positive" "Black is negative"
Others are miffed that a Canadian victim of torture outsourced to Syria, Maher Arar, sued the Bush government once he was released:
Generally, I say let Intel/FBI/CIA do whatever they want to terror suspects. However in this case, I'll second guess them. There's no reason they needed to release this guy alive.
Many freepers think that all the alleged violations of rights are no big whoop:
So what? No big whoop.
Even if it was true, I don't care. It beats having your beheading video taped for world entertainment.
But others are much more critical:
This is too good to be true. But coming from the dark side, I have my doubts. :O)
and in the same tenor
sounds like the report is a wet dream and nothing more.
and indeed some freepers would prefer to be snoozing:
All this talk confirms that things are happening in the shadows that we don't need to hear about or even know about.
I for one am glad there are people out there working for the Good side that are hunting them down with whatever it takes. It is not a job I would or could do but thank God someone has to look the devil in the eye and do this job, because we cannot, We empower those operators in the shadows to do these things and keep it out of the light, where the nice people with children and jobs live :-)
Well at least there are still plenty of jobs left at Free Republic. Regarding a British ambassador's statement that in Uzbekistan prisoners have been boiled alive
Mmmmm... Forbidden Broth...
I think the term "rendering" means to boil to remove fat.
some focus on the bigger picture:
Well, if you don't want to be deported to Syria/Jordan/Egypt etc for a more convenient interrogation, keep your four-wived, shoe lighting, box cutter wielding, non pork eating a$$ off of a western airline and go directly to Iraq so we can kill your worthless self with lard soaked .223 ball.
A former CIA agent, Michael Scheuer, states that the Bushies have created a nightmare with ER since 9/11:
Where's the nightmare?? 550 POW's at Gitmo and another 150 "rendered" elsewhere. We're talking peanuts here. I think Scheuer is trying to capture a few minutes of fame. These are enemy troops out of uniform and should be shot after we extract all their information.
If 150 "abductees" is "out of control" to this reporter, then what was September 11th?
I guess we'll reconsider this once the score has been evened up...or maybe not. Anyhow, there is the occasional freeper who demands reform:
This shows just how bad the CIA had become and much it needs to be reformed when so many recently retired CIA agents show themselves to be traitors.
But legislation would be bad, even coming out of a Republican Congress:
The "no torture" bill going through congress has one very important goal, as descibed by what's-her-name on O'Reilly tonight--once you cut through all the justifications, it's to say that the President is the one responsible for torture being used on a suspect. It's about "accountability"--something that's never a question elsewhere in the government, or in terms of terrotist nations, only in our "torture" of suspect. What is means is that in any cases of torture found from now on, the one who's finally responsible is President Bush.
This story may or may not have legs, but at some point we will see Pelosi and Reid calling for an investigation of torture which will lead to the President.
And how could that be fair...I mean, holding W accountable for any of this? Accountable???
The torture issue is The stealth issue for the dems. Just watch. If anyone needed proof all they have to do is look at how the dems are "quietly" helping this legislation along...
It really is just all about politics, when you think about it:
Could this be another Democrat scumbag who was thrown overboard by Porter Goss and who now wants to (continue to) undermine Bush?
Come to think of it, isn't it just a tad treasonous (there's that word again) to decry torture?
Ah. So liberals are still operational as defense counsel for Islamic terrorists.
But the most frequent opinion, producing a flurry of concerted outrage, was that ainitfunny must have been a troll to have raised the matter at all. That's a fitting point to end this diatribe with. What has happened to our fellow citizens, that it is not even a fit subject for discussion when our government abets torture? Is there any way back from this barbarism? Or is the US fated, like so many empires before it, to rot out from within?