Bush: ‘This Government Does Not Torture People’

So, our government doesn’t torture people, but do we contract independent companies that are immune to US and military laws (like the Blackwater group) for this? Mr. Bush’s address seems to fall short of defining this clearly – is there a technical loophole being used?

You bet, GWB, this is the first and only truthful statement he has made since stealing office. The government does not torture, you let someone else do that dirty work for you. Before GWB and his cronies got in, the U.S. was respected all over the world for its regard for human rights. Now GWB et al., have put the U.S. in the same category as so many other countries that abuse human rights. We can’t go into other countries now and tell them they are wrong for torturing people. They will tell us to go home and practice what we preach. You bet, GWB, you have screwed everything up in this country. It is going to take a long, long time to build the U.S. reputation back to where it was B.B.

Touche Ron & Lake….
Can anyone say Abu ? And was those private firms ever punished for what their employers did? NO… They are still bidding and securing government contracts.

How can George W. say that we don’t use torture tactics when it is clear that he and his administration have tortured the U.S. since he was elected?

Why does news such as this always draw the kooks out of their lairs?
1. Do any of the dummies who have made comments have the vaguest idea as to what “torture” actually is?
2. Assuming that our troops do slide over the line and carry out what you believe is torture, and in so doing save numerous lives of Iraqi civilians or, more importantly, our soldiers; what do you suggest their fate should be?
3. It would help it you would add to your comments a truthful statement as to your service in the armed forces or lack thereof. I am a WWII vet, with a permenant disability from wounds recieved in the Bulge.
4. I do not give the slightest damn if our enemies are subjected to torture if our people, in good faith, believe they might have information which could avoid death or injury to anyone.
Have a nice day!

When are we going to go back to being the respectable country that everyone looks up to? I want my American way of life Back!!!!! This administration has done nothing but lie to us and take away our rights a little at a time. we need change and we need it now!

To the Dummies who say the people of the US have been totured just by reason of his being in office. I say, get a life! Bush was elected by the people, and he got a higher percentage of the popular vote than Bubba did. If you yearn for Bubba and Monica and Denise Rich and Vince foster’s ghost, etc, just shut up and vote for Hillary.

Hey TheOldTrooper:
Maher Arar
Maher Arar (born 1970 in Syria) is a Canadian software engineer who was subjected to the United States policy of extraordinary rendition, a process where detainees are transferred from one country to another, with the alleged expectation that they will be tortured in the country to which they are rendered.
Arar, a citizen of both Syria and Canada, was detained during a layover at John F. Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 on his way home to his family in Canada. He was held in solitary confinement in the U.S. for nearly two weeks, interrogated, and denied meaningful access to a lawyer. The Bush administration labelled him a member of Al Qaeda due to his association with Al Qaeda suspects Abdullah Almalki and Ahmad El Maati.[1] They rendered him, not to Canada, his current home, but to Syrian intelligence authorities, known by the U.S. government to practice torture.[2] While in Syria, he was tortured and detained for almost a year before being released to Canada.
Both the Canadian and Syrian governments have publicly cleared Arar of any links to terrorism. The United States government, however, refuses to clear Arar’s name and continues to have both him and his family on a watchlist.
His U.S. attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights are currently pursuing his case, Arar v. Ashcroft, which seeks compensatory damages on Arar’s behalf and also a declaration that the actions of the U.S. government were illegal and violated his constitutional, civil, and international human rights.

There is no reason in an open democracy for the government to refuse to specify what particular actions it considers “torture”. These things are being done in our name, and the people have the right to know. I served in the military, and even though our current enemies may not follow any rules, we risk the lives of our soldiers in future conflicts when we lose our reputation for treating prisoners humanely. There is a reason why in WWII (sith the very existence of the US at stake), we gave captured Nazi officers good treatment and did not torture them even though we could have extracted valuable information from then that would save American lives. Any information that results from torture is not only likely to be unreliable but is not worth the long-term damage to the image of the United States as a moral nation.

John. Hear, Hear; right on target!

Well Old Trooper, I am a Vietnam Vet and I would not want our troops being treated the same way as we are treating CIVILIANS picked up in house sweeps and at checkpoints. There is a Geneva Convention, though Bush has put his own definitions to that under the MCA which has been ruled unconstitutional! I guess you don’t believe we should follow the law and allow massacres like that at My Lia! By the way, I am not a kook or a dummy

Can’t he at least sit up straight?

Bush’s response is pathetic. I think it’s appalling how low he expects America to stoop in the name of “safety.” America use to stand for something great, now we are using primitive tactics on many innocent people. Abu Ghraib must never be forgotten.

I would write more if I could simply stop laughing at the ignorance of this pathetic excuse for an elected government official. When will this end?

Why should anyone believe anything this smerk says. This is a person who believes good is bad and bad is good. He would fit perfectly into the role of O’Brien, torture and degradation are simply tools that characterize the authoritarian regime, the republican right represents.

Bush: (wagging his finger)” I did not order any torture at that prison, Abu Gharib. The American people need to know this, and I need to go back to do the work of the people.”
Waterboarding anyone?

“This country does not torture.” …at least not what WE define as torture. What the rest of the world thinks, well, Bush just never cared about the rest of the world.

Harry Reid tortures the American public by showing his face in camera and opening his mouth each day to slander America and our Armed Forces. This is cruel punishment to hear his weasel voice on the liberal media….then there’s Hillary’s fake laugh, scary, but I did tape it over and over again and will use for Halloween to give the kids a good scare..hey, it’s “For the Children”.

Does Bushy even know how to tell the truth? He is the worst president and history will probably profess this too!
Our validity/values in the world has fallen to such low standards with this president.
I can’t wait to send him packing!!!!!

How we torture sorry interrogate suspected terrorists must be kept secret otherwise the terrorists will train to be able to withstand it.
Personally I would dose them up with Sodium Penthanol or a similar drug to illicit the correct reponses

Bush is pure torture!

This is a mess. This is a really big mess. We need to call a huge “time out” on what the hell we are all doing and figure out where it all went so wrong. Between Presidents that flat out lie (on both sides), an entire Senate that seems to be made up of Sex crazed maniacs and an up coming election that we are all supposed to be excited about voting for the candidate we hate the least, we are in a train wreck. We are not watching it, we are in it.
Here we are spending Trillions for a war against a defenseless country. We consume like parasites and bicker over whether or not our host, the earth, is fighting back – it is; and BTW, it will win. So – TIME OUT! STOP – Look around; what are YOU doing to help? What are YOU doing to make a difference. Have you ever called or written to your congressman? have you ever written to your Senators? Have you recycled one thing today? We need a direction. Unfortunately it is clear that our current administration can not provide this leadership. They are nothing more than Bible thumping, self-righteous, paranoid bullies on a mission to save us from tissue Tigers. The solution lies with the people. It’s time to stop shaking our heads to do something. Make your voice heard.

It is so sad for our country that a person like Bush is the president. I will try not to belittle him the way he belittle this great nation. But the truth of the matter is he has given the order to tortured, as bad as it sounds its the truth. Mr. Bush has no credibility at all. If he was a man with integrity he would defend his honer, and go before congress show the papers neccessarry to give the congress reason to reasure the country. But he will not because what he and Mr. Gonzales have done is criminal. I have one question for all those who defend this liar,and it is which one of the known tortures that has been described by the White House would be approved to be used on our citizens? I know I want get an answer.

More great news from the GOP Iraq War: From CNN: “Corruption has stopped possible advances by the government on the political level, on economic reconstruction, on basic services, amenities and infrastructure and on the rule of law,” he told the committee, estimating the total lost to corruption at $18 billion. Widespread payoffs and threats of retribution have not only contributed to the failure of the Iraqi government to control sectarian militias, but they have helped fund the militias (insurgents), Al-Radhi said.” NOW THAT’S YOUR AMERICAN TAXPAYER DOLLARS AT WORK! You’re doin’ a HECKUVA job there, Bushie!”

OK, assuming that Bush et al are indeed condoning/advocating torture as many here appear to believe, then the next administration (probably Democrat) will have the moral obligation after assuming power, to dig out all pertinent information and bringing criminal charges against Bush et al. Can you actually believe there is that much morality left in Washington?

Key word in the statement: “this government”.
I would like to find out if any of this is being outsourced to Blackwater and other companies or off the books operations.

w again wants all of us to be so afraid that we give him absolute, unchecked power….to do whatever he wants…including define himself as good….and all who disagree with him as bad….and worthy of arrest, detainment, and torture…..W’s only arguement is to ‘trust him’ but now we know he is untrustworthy.

Do any of you actually think for one minute that no other administration has tortured people? Come on, get real. They all have! It just didn’t suddenly start happening since Bush has been in office. I can’t believe some of the studpid comments I’ve been reading. What I can’t believe is that people are going to vote for a woman who let her husband screw around while in the White House. Now that is what I would call torture for the American People. I’m with you on this one The Old Trooper!!

RE: KERRAVON — Let me take this opportunity to address your response to old trooper:
1. Sure it does..
2. We still are about fairness, justice, etc. And, by the way, we are still looked up to around the world. The only reason you do not think this is because of the way the Liberal Media reports it.
3. You may be right on this one. But, let’s let the brain-trust in the CIA handle the torturing. Whether they’ve served or not, they have access to the immediate information and can decide on what’s crucial to the country or not.
4. Your completely wrong on this. The Al-Qada tuffs sang like birds when waterboarded.

RE: Eric
1) I am not a liberal. Nice try
2) On the planet I’m on, the sky is blue, the sun is yellow, and the people of THIS planet no longer look up to us the way they use to. Must be nice where you’re at.
3) I would hope the CIA would use effective measures. As I said, torture is NOT good for getting to the truth.
4) I’m sure they sung. But was it the TRUTH?
Tell me Eric, what techniques are used when authorities want to get a captive to confess to a crime that they KNOW he didn’t commit. Could it be TORTURE??? Yes? See torture is good for something.

RE: KERRAVON –
1. Sure you are. Only Liberals do not condone torture (particularly during the election season), because most of conservatives do condone it.
2. I think I’m on the same planet as you. And, when we say America, we are talking about the whole package. Of course, there are a lot of polls out there that state a lot of people dont like bush, but then on the other side of the coin, there are many polls out there that support our nation and love what we stand for. That’s too bad for them though, I love Bush. And, I love when he screws up his words and says things like “We do not torture”, just so I can see you liberals head’s explode.
3. The CIA has been using many methods (beyond what you and I know about) to gain intelligence.
4. According to recent reports from this website, most of the information that was attained from bin-al shib, KSM, abu zabayda, and others, were corroborated and indeed, it stopped future terrorist attacks. I will see if I can dig those reports up for you….

Does not the fact that Bush has to keep denying it tell you anything? Of course he tortures people. Changing the definition of torture does not make it torture any less. I’m ashamed of how my government is treating people.

Wow Eric – you’re a real partisan. Why do you hate liberals so much? Who planted all that partisan hatred in your head and why? Do you always hate who you’re told too? How ridiculous.

Absolutely I love it.
Your party stands for the (Reid – The war is lost // Murtha – These soldiers are murderer’s // Pelosi – Re-Deploy all troops NOW!!!) sellout party.
And what makes it more funny to me, is the fact that all the liberal idiots that got all the dummy democrats voted in this last election to take over the house and senate, have steadily been getting their butts kicked over every IRAQ bill they have sent to the President.

No…my “head doesn’t explode” when I think of Bush Jr…or anything he does. The thousands who died at the beginning of Bush Jr’s “cakewalk” who truly believed they were saving America from those WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION and MUSHROOM CLOUDS OVER AMERICA? I bet all those heroes who died for that…believed the NeoCon lies – if they were alive today – would be a little angry…don’t you think?

JoeofPhoneix – I doubt it. Torture never works. Bribery does. We get more info from paid snitches than we do from tortured captives. Everybody in the intel community knows this.

Remember the same hundreds of thousands of GI’s that died in WWII? Do you remember those?

Hate? I dont believe I stated that I hate anyone. I just happen to think liberal thought processes are dumb.
Lost the war? I dont believe we have lost anything. Oh, I see what you mean…it’s the Harry Reid syndrome again. Ok I get it now…..

But they were fighting a WORLD WAR…all over the planet…against far more powerful enemies (at least at the start of the war). Anybody that compares Iraq with WWII is an idiot. I’m through wasting my time with you. You and the other 25% of Americans who still support incompetence and failure can keep on embarrassing yourselves and your country. Just do all the rest of us a favor…stop asking all of US to foot the bill for your endless failures…in blood and billions of dollars a day.

you are definitely filled with partisan hate. It’s blatantly obvious from reading this thread that you hate your fellow Americans based on their political beliefs. Very childish.

Why do people think they can win a foreign war while spreading partisan hate and divisivenes at home? Do they really think they can win wars without the whole country united behind them? How stupid and shortsighted can you get.

Jane – good point. Remember, Bush had the whole country – including Dems and liberals – united behind him after 9/11 and during the invasion of Afghanistan. But he consciously chose to “play to the base” and run on wedge issues in the 2004 election. The Neocons thought they could win their war on their own, and they were wrong – and now we’re ALL paying the price for their arrogance and incompetence

Ann, I’m not certain partisan divisiveness leads directly to military failure. I would suggest military factors are the primary ones.
Blackwater’s supposed immunity is an interesting topic. Their ‘immunity’ was granted by the CPA, that is the U.S. Government. How ingenious, an invading force that acts as the government of the invaded and grants itself immunity. They are mercenaries, by definition, and therefore illegal combatants. As usual, the U.S. Government is performing the very acts it accuses others of. Abhorrent and utter unsurprising.

The war in Iraq is not part of the war against Al Queda and never really was. Attempting to link the two is a massive policy blunder that will lead to the failure of both.

Let’s turn this around, are the same people in “favor” of our enemies doing this to our soldiers?

JANE: See, the problem with your statement “Why do people think they can win a foreign war while spreading partisan hate and divisivenes at home?” doesn’t make any sense to me.
I’ll tell you why it doesnt make sense to me. The reason that your statement doesn’t make sense is because I’m not spreading anything thats not already there. You libs will never accept the truth (and not the media matters truth). We are in IRAQ, we are staying in IRAQ, and we will leave IRAQ when we are finished. Just get over it already…..
Our last great liberal minded thinker was FDR. It’s a new day and age now. We are now swinging toward an “it’s all about me,me,me” society that want open borders, want us to pull our troops out of all regions in the world, and want the government to install a “Cradle to Grave” society for this country.
Well, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop all of that nonsensicle thinking.

The only torturing that has occurred during this administration is to the ears of the general population from the high pitched liberal whining.

Yeah, tell me about it. Have you been reading some of the posts?

Torture is watching America’s finest come home in pine boxes, injured and maimed; and for WHAT? For this losers TRILLION dollar “Let’s win one for daddy” boondoggle?

Torture is having the “FOX NOISE” talking points repeated over and over and over and over and over again defending this idiot!

but yet bill clinton is for torture, and there isnt a word from the left about that.

I just wish someone from the Whitehouse Press Corp would ask Bush why he thinks a fifth of Americans can’t find the U.S. on a world map……I’m working on a hunch.

Bush is a liar.

Our American democracy is dead. We accept and expect lies from our leaders. It is only a short step from here to total dictatorship. I weep for our nation.

Can’t believe the number of leftist, pessimistic, negative, sheeple here spouting talking points with no substance.
Go John and Old Trooper!

Hey, what’s wrong with a little torture compared to the 18,000+ death’s of the young in this country every year due to lack of insurance coverage. The U.S. ranks 17th out of the top 33 industrialized nations in life expectancy. The top 16 have either national health or some other form of socialized medicine for preventative care and early diagnosis. You want to live five years longer, what’s it worth to you?

Les managed to babble “Can’t believe the number of leftist, pessimistic, negative, people here spouting talking points with no substance.
Go John and Old Trooper!”
Yes Les, I see your point. Thank you for sharing all your “substance”, in other words PURE BS.

I think what you all seem to be missing, ESPECIALLY those in defense of this administration is that sooner or later,
you must realise that the disneyified world where torture is good is powerfully bad and indicative of what these al Queada guys are in fact upset about. They could care less about our freedoms and are much more interested in their own.
Whether we call it torture or coercive interviewing, or compliance reassertion, or whatever the politically correct term is, it seems awfully cold comfort to know that we do these things in the name of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or protecting people, we in fact are trying to get our happy ending culture around the fact that torture and state-sanctioned extra-legal death is not just normal but good for you.
I want to know where I can go live in a country where the government doesn’t hate it’s citizens so much.
It rather seems that white is black and none of us is any safer.