Remember, this ISN’T torture

I don”t want to hear ANYONE who has defended waterboarding to me to express anything other than indifference to this:

An Army sergeant who served in Iraq for 15 months has been restricted to his Washington military base after being accused of waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she refused to recite her ABCs.

Remember folks, the Bush administration says this is NOT torture. So don’t get upset. It’s just enhanced interrogation. It’s not a crime.

We have the right to do it to THEM, and therefore, they have a right to do it to US.

Yeah, this is going to p*** off a lot fo readers. But I’m trying to get people to realize how defending torture is never justified.

About Billy Dennis

Billy Dennis is lifelong Peorian, having attended Kingman, Glen Oak, Woodruff High School and Illinois Central College before finally tricking Eastern Illinois University into granting him a bachelor's degree in journalism. He's reported on police, fires, labor, local government and schools all across Illinois and Missouri. A former liberal Democrat, life experience turned him into a small-l libertarian.
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13 Responses to Remember, this ISN’T torture

  1. Billy, I agree that waterboarding is torture, but your argument here is ridiculous. The implication of your post is that the military shouldn't do anything to terrorists or suspected terrorists that they wouldn't do to an innocent little girl. Really? Is that your point?

  2. James Lansberry says:

    I don't think that's his point, CJ. His point appears to me to be that we've convinced our military personnel that it isn't torture and one of them used it as a discipline technique on his own daughter.

    Billy I agree whole-heartedly here.

  3. It's not considered torture to use sleep deprivation or inject certain drugs during interrogation. Does that mean we're somehow teaching our military personnel it's okay to use those tactics to discipline one's children? It's not torture to incarcerate suspected terrorists in a military prison. Does that mean we're teaching our military personnel it's okay to lock up their children in a military prison? As Spock would say, "Not logical, Captain!"

  4. Billy Dennis says:

    "It's not considered torture to use sleep deprivation or inject certain drugs during interrogation."

    Yes. It is.

  5. Scruff says:

    Wow… what a terrible argument. Is this the true stance of liberals? Treat terrorists as if they were 4 year old girls? I hope you don't wonder why there is an uprising in this country against the liberal agenda.

  6. Hey, I don't want anyone who has defended guns in the military to express anything other than indifference to this:

    …officers noticed a disturbance outside Club Syn and saw one person retrieve something from his car. Police say officers stopped the man and found a pistol in his pocket.

    They say 28-year-old soldier Terence Henry faces obstruction and weapons charges. He was released to Army custody.

    Remember, it's okay to carry and shoot guns in the military, so clearly it's the military's fault that this guy couldn't differentiate between what's okay to do as a soldier and what's okay to do as a civilian. Thus, we should ban all guns from the military. Right?

  7. ollie says:

    And to think that I thought that modern parents were too soft on their kids. :)
    Yes, some things ARE wrong no matter who we do them to. But, in all honesty, it is ok to, say, keep POWs imprisoned against their will and no one would do that to their kids so your detractors have a logical point.

    Still, I agree that waterboarding is torture and our country shouldn't have done that.

  8. Only excessive sleep deprivation is considered torture, not all sleep deprivation. And since when are sedatives and truth serums considered torture?

    I guess we should read the terrorists a bedtime story and sing them to sleep, eh? Take them to the park the next day and have a picnic?

  9. idonotknowme says:

    Killing innocent people is wrong. Sounds good, sounds true.

    Was nuking Hiroshima wrong? Bombing Dresden? Lots of innocent people were killed by those actions. Should they not have been done? What should have been done instead?

    I am surprised that you would take such an absolutist stance. Most things do, in fact, depend on the particulars of the case. Very few things are absolute and following absolutes tends to lead to ludicrous conclusions when the absolute rule is fully carried out.

  10. 11bravo says:

    This argument is exactly why journalists, or those with journalism degrees, need to report the news and try to avoid guiding public opinion. This argument really

    First, did this 4 year old, or friends of hers, fly a plane into a few buildings and kill a few thousand Americans?

    Was she withholding valuable information?

    Your use of the word "crime" is incorrect, but you see things through the point of view of a civilian so that's to be expected.

    Finally, no one thinks they have a "right" to interrogate/torture another.

    I hope that writing this cooky story didn't also inspire you to start creating an aluminum foil helmet while you were at it.

    • Billy Dennis says:

      Oh, so THAT is my mistake. I was using TIN not aluminum.

      And I am sure that the fine upstanding people whop capture and wish to interrogate our soldiers and citizens think that it's also perfectly acceptable to torture them for withholding valuable information.

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