If waterboarding worked and saved LA, shouldn't we continue to use it?

Hell yeah if it saved just one American life (Nirv is Canadian by the way)it would be worth it let alone our 2nd largest city

Besides a tongue and cheek thought about whether we really wanted to save LA (with sincere apologies to people living there if my humor goes flat), I actually approve of this particular use if the CIA's assertions are true. From your cnsnews article:

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“The ‘waterboard,’ which is the most intense of the CIA interrogation techniques, is subject to additional limits,” explained the May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo. “It may be used on a High Value Detainee only if the CIA has ‘credible intelligence that a terrorist attack is imminent’; ‘substantial and credible indicators that the subject has actionable intelligence that can prevent, disrupt or deny this attack’; and ‘[o]ther interrogation methods have failed to elicit this information within the perceived time limit for preventing the attack.’”

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I am okay with usage restricted as described here. Later in the article, it explained KSM's attitude toward interrogators and also claimed that the usefulness of the information obtained was confirmed. This is key. In effect, KSM was a criminal and deserved what he got. How could I possibly object to the discomfort of this man that resulted in saving lives?

I push back on the use of torture though if it is ever (even once) inflicted upon innocent people. I have heard charges of abuse toward many prisoners who ended up being innocent. If these charges are true, these innocent people have been victims of crimes at the hands of U.S. authorities. I fear that the oversight necessary to bring justice in these cases does not exist within our system. If there was such oversight, all that we would need would be to prosecute any interrogator who tortured an innocent person. This would certainly lead to more judicial use of such tactics.

When innocent people are badly mistreated, I believe that we generate new waves of resentment. While it is wonderful that KSM was made to divulge information that saved lives, have we created new KSM's through abusive treatment of other prisoners? I wonder.

What really needs to happen is the frakkin media needs to be extracted from matters that concern national security. Why is that the media has access to everything and everything? Why is a frakkin reporter riding in a hummer that is out of patrol or transporting supplies? The media is out of control.

In the spirit of trying to be transparrent and whistle blowers we are risking our nation's security especially when it comes to the fight against terrorism.

I say those that need to be prosecuted are the ones that stick their frakkin camera's and recorders everywhere except up their frakkin butts.

Jack Nicholson said it best in the movie "you can't handle the truth" The "average american" can't handle to "real" cost of protecting American's right's and liberties.

Col. Nathan R. Jessep: You can't handle the truth!

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Col. Nathan R. Jessep: Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and curse the Marines; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to defend something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

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Lt. Daniel Kaffee: Did you order the code red?

Col. Nathan R. Jessep: I did the job I had to do.

Lt. Daniel Kaffee: Did you order the code red?!

Col. Nathan R. Jessep: You're God damn right I did!

Yes, but BO does not want to upset our enemies. It is a sad state of affairs when an American President would say he would rather thousand of Americans die than to do something that could have stopped it from happening. I thought the Constitution required the President to protect the lives of Americans. What was done was not torture but things the police do every day as part of there jobs. Peace

A plan that was 5 years out date and never implemented.

Is this the best you people can come up?

What a surprise that the CIA would "stand by their assertion".

Anyone still trust the CIA?

Liberals oppose anything that is in the best interest of our nation

Nope. we are no better than the people we are fighting if we do that. Not to mention, the waterboarding was also used to try and cover Cheney's azz. Glad to see they were looking out for America

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090422/wl_mccl...

That, or any other means necessary to get information from those extremest Scum Bags.

Torture is a violation of US law and according to such law must be investigated, and where warranted, prosecuted to the fullest.