Guantanamo Bay and Interrogation Rules (torture) Hearings on CSPAN

By GottaLaff

Torture hearings are going on, on CSPAN 3. I came in very late, but I did manage to catch this:

Torture's not that bad if you only do it a few times. Torture's okay because the U.S. followed the letter of the law.

What wasn't said was that the U.S. rewrote the law.

Oh, and everything is classified so Ashcroft won't tell Robert Wexler what he wants to know.

Still listening.

UPDATE: Breaking the law saves American lives. Whew! That justifies waterboarding and other forms of torture. We can all rest easy now.

UPDATE #2: Delahunt says what's more important is whether Congress is doing the acceptable or the unacceptable. It's a broader question, not just one of waterboarding/torture itself... but of what has become acceptable/legal, and what the results of torture are. Waterboarding does not necessarily yield honest answers, and it violates the law, diminishing our country's strengths, standards, and legal system. We have a "nation that is embarrassed".

Now a Republician is saying it was okay for Bill Clinton to want to kill Bin Laden, but not okay for us to kill terrorists who want to kill us. Answer: It wasn't against the law to assassinate Bin Laden. But it was against the law to torture. The R is saying the killing is ultimately the worst, most cruel form of torture (cites the Supreme Court ruling on rape). Answer by Dellinger: Bin Laden isn't a U.S. citizen. Different circumstance. If there is a contradiction between assassinating foreign leaders and torture, that should be resolved by Congress. The fundamental flaw is that they allow the president too much power, without Congress approval, gives him too much inherent authority.

The R is saying that Kalid Sheik Mohamed is a "ticking time bomb." The response from the Brookings guy is that the "ticking time bomb" label is "a fiction".

UPDATE #3: Linda Sanchez: Did Bush approve or order the August 2002 memorandum? Ashcroft: I don't know, but if I did, it's privileged. Linda: But if he ordered it, he'd have spoken to more people than just you. Did Bush approve of the use of any of the tactics in the memorandum? Ashcroft: I can't answer that. Classified. Sanchez: Did he approve waterboarding in any way? Ashcroft: My previous answer covers that. Sanchez: Did he approve hypothermia, stress positions, etc? Ashcroft: Same answer. This went on... asking question after question about his knowledge and advice to Bush, and got the same answer.
Sanchez: Iglesias said you were pushed out. Correct? Ashcroft: Many reasons why I can't answer. I'm not a book writer like others. My departure was a decision of my own. Voluntary.
Sanchez: Was it suggested? Ashcroft: Privileged. Sanchez: Politicized hiring in honors program, did you know that applicants were being screened? Ashcroft: I have no recollection or awareness. I don't know if it's ever been mentioned. Sanchez: Have you READ the report? Ashcroft: No, I have not. Sanchez: I suggest that you do.