Cheney on torture: But it worked!

As Obama headed off to the CIA to reassure it's officers that they did not have to fear prosecution because of his recent release of the four Bush torture memos, the moronic former Vice President once again stirred in the shadows and defended his committing of war crimes:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney also weighed into the debate overnight saying he found it disturbing that Obama did not also release memos which would show the technique was successful in gathering intelligence.

Appearing on the Fox News Channel, Cheney said he has asked the CIA to release documents showing the effectiveness of the widely condemned technique.

"I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so we can lay them out there and the American people have a chance to see what we obtained," he said.

What right does a former Vice President have to "formally ask the CIA to release documents"? Isn't Cheney forgetting that his days in power are now "formally" over?

And what evidence was obtained through torture that would not otherwise have been forthcoming? What was the vital evidence which would justify waterboarding a man 183 times?

Mohammed had admitted to involvement in terrorist actions before his capture but, after being interrogated, confessed to a list of incidents and plots that included the 1993 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, as well as a plot to attack Heathrow, Big Ben and Canary Wharf, the beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl, and the Bali bombing.

I swear if they'd only waterboarded him a few more times they might have got him to confess to being Jack the Ripper.

The sheer scale of things which Mohammed confessed to would make any sensible person think that he's simply saying anything you want to hear to stop the torture.

But, of course, we'll likely never be able to test the veracity of anything that he said in a court of law for the simple reason that no court of law will admit evidence which was obtained in such a manner, so Cheney is arguing that we release "evidence" which not evidence at all. It's bunkum. And it's inadmissible bunkum at that.

We were told that, after forty seconds, people who were waterboarded sang like canaries:

KSM “didn’t resist,” one CIA veteran said in the August 13 issue of The New Yorker. “He sang right away. He cracked real quick.” Another CIA official told ABC News: “KSM lasted the longest under water-boarding, about a minute and a half, but once he broke, it never had to be used again.”

It now transpires that they actually had to perform this action, not once, but 183 times.

Given that every single thing which these torturers have told us has turned out to be a huge fat lie, why would any sentient person still be of a mind to listen to anything that they had to say now?

Liars tend to disbelieved for very good reason. And the Bush administration, and Cheney in particular, have shown that they have an almost toxic relationship with the truth.

But it's very interesting that Cheney, who surely has woken up to the fact that he is on a shaky wicket when it comes to possible prosecution for the crimes he has committed, finds himself actually making the argument that "torture works".

There is numerous evidence from the released memos to counter that argument, but, even accepting his flawed argument at face value, the fact that torture worked is hardly the point.

It's torture!

I was going to say that Cheney has abandoned all morality in his most recent arguments but, to be fair, he never pretended to have any moral core in the first place.

UPDATE:





Cheney has called the Obama administration, "The most radical left wing administration in a generation." Which is rich coming from a member of the most radical right wing administration in a generation.

And watch Cheney's smirk when told that Biden called him "the most dangerous Vice President in American history". I swear to God he's pleased to be called that.

And Hannity's interviewing style is a joy to behold. He honestly would not look out of place on Pravda. Could he serve up those softballs any sweeter?

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Tags: Cheney, torture, CIA, Bush torture memos, Obama