Top Senate Republican Admits That Torture Helps Al Qaeda Recruitment
This is a good one. In the course of attacking Obama’s decision to release the torture memos, GOP Senator Kit Bond appears to have admitted that the image of the U.S. torturing terror suspects actually helps terror recruitment and hurts our national security — one of the principle arguments of torture opponents.
Check out this nugget buried in an interview Bond, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, gave to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos:
Bond believes the administration “released far too much information,” adding that he thinks Al Qaeda will use this information to train their followers to resist interrogation and that it will provide “propaganda for Al Qaeda’s media machine.”
Bottom line: Bond believes this release will “make us less safe and “heighten anger” in parts of the world “where we’re trying to make friends.”
Now that Obama has released the torture memos, Bond is arguing that the image of America torturing would provide “propaganda” for terrorists and leave us less safe. But the claim that the image of America torturing would have this effect has been made by opponents of torture for years — and it’s an argument that has long been dismissed as irrelevant by “harsh interrogation” proponents.
Bond, to be sure, is arguing that torture should be kept secret for these very reasons. But in the process, he’s inadvertently acknowledged that one of the key arguments long made against torture is correct. Either you believe the image of America torturing makes us less safe, or you don’t — and a top Senate Republican has now revealed that he does believe this.
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Kit Bond may not be the best source in the world – but it makes sense that Al Quaeda would be benefited by “torture photos. And torture could destroy everything we believe in about America.
I am going to repost something I said on Swampland.
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I am watching Morning Joe and one thing just occured to me about why Republicans won’t be back anytime soon. They still refuse to admit torture is torture. In fact this morning Scarborough was laughing and joking and having a good old time with the OLC memos. For the fringe party of theirs it probably plays well but to the vast majority of Americans, making light of torturing not only doesn’t play well, it also gives the impression that if given the chance Republicans will do it again. You only have to look at the polls where over 70% of Americans disagreed with Cheney when he said Obama made us less safe. If you were wondering who the 28% were who agreed with Cheney its likely the same 28% largely made up of Republicans that also don’t approve of the way President Obama is doing his job. Torture is a political loser for Republicans and they still don’t seem to have noticed. Like I pointed out last night none of the wingnut blogs even picked up the OLC memo story yesterday. That should tell you something.
Helene said: it makes sense that Al Quaeda would be benefited by “torture photos. And torture could destroy everything we believe in about America.
Yep, and the fact that we have been torturing people was well known around the world before these memos were released. The act of releasing them, the act of saying publicly that we did it and it was wrong and we will not do it again is the only possible antidote – other than prosecutions of those who sanctioned this.
Interesting points. In my view, however, the real torture occurs when girl children are denied educaton and physical protection in countries dominated by Islam. It will be interesting to see if we are as safe under the Obama administration as we were under the Bush administration after 9-11.
Augustine, You’re assumption is that we were safer under Bush. i believe that, while an attack may not have occurred, Americans were much less safe under Bush. His policies put us at greater risk because more of the world hated us. Not only that, conservatives, like Cheney, subvert the president and American through his declarations that Obama makes us less safe. These claims are made for nothing but personal gains, which proves what most of us have known all along—Cheney and Bush put their own interests ahead of the country’s interests.
Shame on Morning Joe for his juvenile jokes & laughter about torture. I saw the video online. What station is he on? Everyone needs to demand his removal from the air – permanently.
Call. Email. Demand that “Joe” apologize.