Cornyn Embraces Bush’s Plan For Iraq, Earlier Criticized Warner’s Same Proposal As ‘Curious’
Cornyn Embraces Bush’s Plan For Iraq, Earlier Criticized Warner’s Same Proposal As ‘Curious’
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has released a statement praising President Bush’s speech on Iraq last night, saying he is “pleased” that “troops will come home before the year’s end”:
Our commanding officer in Iraq, General Petraeus, came before the Congress this week and made clear that the surge is working; military progress is being made to the extent that some troop withdrawals can begin in the months ahead. I’m pleased that President Bush is listening to his commanders on the ground and with his announcement this evening that some troops will come home before the year’s end.
Yet last month, Cornyn was adamantly opposed to this drawdown. On Aug. 23, Sen. John Warner (R-VA) called on Bush to announce on Sept. 15 that approximately 5,000 troops “could begin to redeploy and be home to their families and loved ones no later than Christmas of this year.” Cornyn immediately put out a statement blasting Warner’s proposal:
It’s a little curious to me that people are proposing a change in strategy when in fact the current strategy appears now to be working.
Bush’s announcement last night mirrors Warner’s proposal. Yet all of a sudden — just a couple of weeks later — Cornyn thinks it’s a great idea to “change” strategy even while he still believes the current strategy is working.
Cornyn’s hypocrisy resembles that of Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who called Bush’s Iraq announcement “wise,” after criticizing Warner’s plan as “irresponsible.”
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Cornyn is an ass
September 14th, 2007 at 5:37 pmEveryone should have been against Warner’s plan. His plan wasn’t based on listening to the general in charge of Iraq. It was based on nothing. Bush is listening to his generals which is a very good thing. If the general feels we can remove some troops, then we should as long as it doesn’t hurt our chances of killing/removing AQ from Iraq. Who is against fighting AQ in Iraq anyways?
September 14th, 2007 at 5:38 pmCornyn is an embarrasment to the state of Texas and we are going to defeat him in 2008. If it weren’t for Rahm Emanuel being in charge of the funding, we would have defeated his brother Rick Perry in 06 and probably his sister Kay Hutchinson as well. So Happy Howard Dean is in charge of that now.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:38 pmYet ANOTHER example…
…of why DESPISING conned’selserving Repulsivescum hypocrites…
…is ostensibly justified…
September 14th, 2007 at 5:38 pmCornyn is an ass.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:38 pmRon Paul is going to defeat Cornyn. Cornyn has his nose so far up the reich fuehrer’s ass he won’t know what hit him.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:39 pm“Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has quietly introduced a bill to create a “North American Investment Fund” that would tap U.S. and Canadian taxpayers for the development of public works projects in Mexico.
Despite assurances this week from White House press secretary Tony Snow that President Bush opposes the idea of a European Union superstate for North America, the effort, by one of the president’s loyal supporters in the Senate, is sure to spark new questions about negotiations between the leaders of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico on issues ranging from security to the economy”
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51036
September 14th, 2007 at 5:42 pmUmm…Cornyn isn’t running against Ron Paul for president nor is Ron Paul running for senator. Just sayin’
September 14th, 2007 at 5:42 pmjust another full-of-sh_t republican.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:44 pm(is that redundant?)
Do these people not realize that they’re being recorded, and stuff they say is being written down?
September 14th, 2007 at 5:47 pmLOL
September 14th, 2007 at 5:48 pmIf this isn’t clear evidence that the Republican Congress is left in the dark as much as the rest of the nation, I don’t know what is.
I’m (almost) feeling some compassion for the poor saps, they have to reverse course so often just to play along with their dear leader….
Roger x2, you get weaker with each passing hour.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:49 pmI have a good freind and a co-worker who is deploying to Iraq next Thursday. The good thing about being a civilian is that you don’t have to deploy with your freinds to duty stations like that. The bad thing about being a civilian is that you don’t get to deploy to duty stations with your freinds. Bush isn’t removing anybody who isn’t scheduled to rotate out and for every one of them, he is sending another. No net drawdown here. I told her to keep her head down and when she comes back to vote Democratic or she’ll be going back.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:53 pmcaption:
“Guess which one is yours!”
September 14th, 2007 at 5:55 pmThe Iraq people have no say in what they want for their country. The foreign press release this poll which the US media can’t report per order of the White House.
About 70% of Iraqis believe security has deteriorated in the area covered by the US military “surge” of the past six months, an opinion poll suggests.
All this talk about what should be done in Iraq will end when Iran/Syria/Turkey join together to help their friend PM Maliki. The White House has lost and the GOP are doing their best to keep the lies going. It’s all about the money they get to lie.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:55 pmRoger (X2): I’m beginning to think you are a humorous plant from the Daily Show. You’re really Rob Courdry, aren’t you? No one can be that misinformed.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:57 pmMore KoolAid?
#
I have my bags packed. If a draft gets reinstated, I’m headed straight to Canada. For real.
Comment by McDopeAssFool — September 14, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
Is that you, Mr P?
September 14th, 2007 at 5:58 pmWho is against fighting AQ in Iraq anyways?
Comment by Roger_Roger — September 14, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
Is this the guy who was such a big fan of “Mad Max”?
September 14th, 2007 at 6:00 pmMan what is the GOP full of flip-flop wearing tourists?
Michigan lawyer ,the longtime head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans, who sexually attacked a 21-year-old woman at a Young Republicans convention to five years in prison. That’s the maximum term for the offense.
Oh wait, its full of perverts from an early age!!
September 14th, 2007 at 6:01 pmConPERVatives: No party has a lock on perverted members; it’s just that the g.o.p “family values” crowd are hypocritical to boot.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:03 pmCaption contest:
Here is my oil and here is my diaper,
September 14th, 2007 at 6:03 pmnow all I need is Wendys number.
What about the other Generals that GWB ignored? Why does he only follow the military on the ground when it suits his purposes? You’d almost think that he only follows the Generals that will do his bidding. Anyone in the military that speaks out against GWB is quickly retired/replaced. Then the Reps cherrypick and once GWB finally finds someone who will not question his authority they say that he’s listening to the men on the ground. The military is littered with retired Generals that say that GWB doesn’t have a f*cking clue about what is happening in Iraq.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:03 pmWho is against fighting AQ in Iraq anyways?
Comment by Roger_Roger
How many college republicans are there that haven’t signed up, thats your answer.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:05 pmNo.
Comment by McLiberal — September 14, 2007 @ 6:02 pm
ummmm… not sure I’m gonna believe that. Mr P is a NOTORIOUS liar.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:05 pmDave C: bush only follows the military on the ground when they agree with him, because bush is an arrogant, stubborn, incompetent dolt.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:06 pmsmoke & mirror and a total PR campaign. The same troops were already scheduled to come home so who do they think they’re kidding. Bush is the mastermind of double speak and evil chicanery.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:08 pmAnd “Cornball” doesn’t know if he’s coming or going. First he was against it before he was for it! Aren’t they all major flipfloppers?? Every GOP sicko needs to be run out of office in 08 and 10.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:08 pmI hope all of those soccer moms who voted as “Bushies” will be willing to sacrifice their first born for this neofascist’s wet dream.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:09 pmComment by Roger_Roger — September 14, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
Have you been paying attention? All we are getting is a drawdown to pre-surge levels. How about Bush honestly admit that the troop reduction is due to the fact that we can’t sustain the current level of deployment (as Retied Col. Jack Jacobs has just confirmed on Tucker)? I’m sure he would, but in this context Bush couldn’t take any credit for it.
I may also remind you that several years ago the administration was all ready to pack up and go if the Iraqis asked them to leave. Other than “…but I don’t think they’ll ask us” neither Bush nor Bremer nor Powell argued against it; there was no mention that the terrorists will take over, that they’ll follow us home, that the Middle East will fall into chaos, that the generals on the ground will really need to make that decision.
But as we have seen with Bush, he never means what he says. Wanting bin Laden dead or alive turned into “I don’t think about him.” Saying he wanted to wean America off foreign oil in 10 years during a prior SOTU address turned into administration spokesmen saying Bush wasn’t being serious.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:10 pmAs for AWOL Chimpy even knowing how to dialogue with the “boots on the ground”, he’s about as capable of doing that as his 5-deferrment loser Veep.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:10 pmt’s just that the g.o.p “family values†crowd are hypocritical to boot.
Comment by Thejokesonus
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050711/blumenthal
Generation ChickenHawk.
You can say that again!
September 14th, 2007 at 6:11 pmNobody’s fooled Roger_Roger even though the propaganda megaphone is blaring that it’s a “troop withdrawal” – more Orwellinan Bush bullshit, that’s what it is. This so-called “troop withdrawal” was the previously scheduled reduction to pre-surge status due to military fatigue, that’s all this is. It’s time for the MSM to call a liar a liar and Bush continues to lie his a$$ off every day. I can’t believe that we’ve become so complacent that we continue to tolerate this reprehensible, unconstitutional, and highly illegal (lying to the american people when engaged in war) behavior.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:12 pmI’ve been writing letters to Cornyn for years and nobody in his office has ever responded even ONCE.
How hard is it to mail off a vague canned response with a fake signature?
September 14th, 2007 at 6:13 pmHere comes Bush’s war crimes tribunal, ala Nuremberg style. Pop the popcorn because he and his cadre of international criminals are going to be in the slammer somewhere for a very long time.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:13 pm#36 That says plenty about Cornball Cornyn. He’s such a fraud that he doesn’t even pretend NOT to be one. Hah.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:14 pmrazzle: Well, 22 Grand Old Pervert party senate seats are up in 2008 and 19 in 2010 (versus 11 and 15 Democratic seats, respectively).
September 14th, 2007 at 6:15 pmCaption: (as with both proposals), I choose this foil wrapped turd over that one.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:15 pmI have my bags packed. If a draft gets reinstated, I’m headed straight to Canada. For real. Comment by McLiberal — September 14, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
Just change your name to conpervative and hide out in up to 6 universities like Rove did, and while your doing it accuse the universiities of being a base for terrorism and saying how patriotic you are.
Practice being a hypocrite! IOKIYAR!!
September 14th, 2007 at 6:16 pm1.2 million Iraqis dead. Where does this rank on history’s list of crimes against humanity?
September 14th, 2007 at 6:18 pmAl-Arian boasted that he helped win the state of Florida for Bush by pulling its 90,000 Muslim votes into the Republican column.
Horowitz was also mum about Al-Arian’s private June 2001 briefing with Karl Rove,
Nor did Horowitz mention the photo-op that candidate George W. Bush posed for with Al-Arian during the 2000 campaign.
Norquist, the College Republicans’ former executive director and a speaker earlier that morning, funded Al-Arian’s think tank through his own Islamic Institute, which he founded with seed money from Qatar, Kuwait and other Middle Eastern sources, including a self-described supporter of Hezbollah, Abdurahman Almoudi.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:31 pmCaption contest, ” I am your server, welcome to the republican pig troth, all you can eat bufett at tax payer’s expense.Some one will be around to take your drink order.”
September 14th, 2007 at 6:37 pmBottom line, Roger, is this: throw the polls out the window if you would like. The fact is that a majority of this country does not support the “war” in Iraq any longer. Bush knows this, and this is why that he and his administration must continuously market this “war” to America. Yet you and your fellow “war” supporters and Republicans keep trying to scare America by claiming that the terrorists will follow us home and will attack us in our malls and grocery stores.
As Colin Powell pointed out recently, the terrorists cannot destroy this country. They cannot take over this country. They cannot change our political system. Yes, they can knock down buildings, but they will never destroy this country. Apparently you do not have any faith in our military or the resolve of your fellow American in protecting this country. It’s the same people who try to make us believe that this country will go to hell if a few flags are burned in public each year.
People like you like to talk about how much safer that Bush has made us since 9/11, yet turn right around and tell us that the terrorists will destroy us if given the chance. You afraid of a terrorist will get in the country and blow himself up in a crowded mall, killing 30 people? What if an employee of that mall is fired and returns several days later armed to the teeth and opens fire on shoppers and kills the same number of people? I sure as hell don’t see Republican supporters of this “war,” including Congressmen and women, warning America on almost a daily basis to be afraid of disgruntled ex-employees.
Was New York City scared into submission after 9/11 and after the first WTC bombing? No. Was Oklahoma City scared into submission after the Murrah building was bombed (by an American)? No. Was America scared into submission after the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole? No.
Was America destroyed by each of these attacks? No.
You want to fight terrorism? Go for it. But don’t invade and attack a country that was not a threat to this country, inviting even more people to turn against us.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:40 pmComment by Roger_Roger — September 14, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
Another tour de force of ignorance and naivete.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:47 pmM-m-m-m, that sure is some tasty kool-aid! Please, sir can I have some more?
September 14th, 2007 at 6:48 pmHe’s just another boot lickin ass kissing Bush poodle. So what else is new. All the Republicans who are worried about their re-election chances are thinking that Bush has given them a “get out of jail free” card. Boy are they going to be surprised on the day after the 2008 election.
America isn’t buying it.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:50 pmCornyn: “Oh, I can’t possibly drink this yucky red stuff. … What’s that? Bush pissed in the Kool-Aid? That makes it different. Mmmmmmmmm. Yummy-Yummy!”
September 14th, 2007 at 6:57 pmIt was based on nothing. Bush is listening to his generals which is a very good thing.
roger roger, you are too dumb for words. The only general Bush is listening to is Betrayus. He didn’t listen to Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command, who just happens to be Betrayus’ boss. And why was that? Because Fallon would not tell him what he wanted to hear.
Bush has lost all credibility with everyone in this country except for the few morons left out there like you.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:57 pmUmm…Cornyn isn’t running against Ron Paul for president nor is Ron Paul running for senator. Just sayin’
Comment by Margaret
This is true. Dermot is so enraptured with Ron Paul he uses every chance he can get to throw his name out there. No self-respecting progressive or liberal would ever vote for Ron Paul so Dermot is wasting his time.
September 14th, 2007 at 7:00 pmBobby Ghosh, former Time Baghdad Bureau Chief who lived in Baghdad for 4.5 years, earlier on Hardball called BS on Bush’s claim that life is just great in Baghdad.
September 14th, 2007 at 7:23 pmCornyn, Boehner and the rest of the wind-up neocons display all the independent thought of Coke bottles on a conveyor belt at the bottling plant.
Of course, right-wingers equate blind, unquestioning obedience to patriotism. What they’re also blind to is their own treasonous attitude.
September 14th, 2007 at 8:01 pmVery soon, people who speak from Texas are going to be considered a menace to world peace. You people should do something about it! How’bout not letting false cowboys ride your herds? You must bring them to task or else the definition of cowboy is going to be below piece of sh=t!
September 14th, 2007 at 8:08 pmThey are but a number of Repuglicants that wear knee pads to the White House, and they ain’t prayin’. It’s a shame they might have off spring.
September 14th, 2007 at 8:19 pmCornyn flip-flopped and now says he supports Bush’s limited troop withdrawal, which he — of course — lambasted last month. He’s a Republican, remember?
Today, Mitch McConnell also took a trip into BushWorld. He said “We are turning a corner in Iraq and will be in a better place.” Well yes, Mitch. We made another turn in Bush’s hellish Iraq Labyrinth that has no exit. This is what McConnell and Bush call progress.
See http://www.ditchmitchky.com
September 14th, 2007 at 8:30 pmIt’s a shame they might have off spring.
Comment by Cricket — September 14, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
Spring will always be here, my friend; it’s amongst the good people!
September 14th, 2007 at 8:37 pmIt’s a shame they might have off spring.
Comment by Cricket — September 14, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
I guess if I agree with you I’m a radical, so be it!
September 14th, 2007 at 8:50 pmCornyn, like all the other Bush apologists, will be gone when he next runs for office. Seeya John.
September 14th, 2007 at 8:55 pmCornyn maybe the dumbest Senator in the Senate. He has been a loyal Bushie which is why he has gotten to where he is!!!
September 14th, 2007 at 9:34 pm#
Very soon, people who speak from Texas are going to be considered a menace to world peace. You people should do something about it! How’bout not letting false cowboys ride your herds? You must bring them to task or else the definition of cowboy is going to be below piece of sh=t!
Comment by JoeCaribe — September 14, 2007 @ 8:08 pm
Look dude – no disrespect intended but that’s a pretty enormous generalization. Yes, we have unfortunately hocked up some real idiots from down here. But, need I remind you of the contributions to sane discourse that have come from here- Molly Ivins, Bill Moyers, Lloyd Doggett, Willie Nelson, Ann Richards, Walter Cronkite, Steve Earle, etc. bUsh was elected by ALL the states, not just Texas. The responsibility lies with your state and its citizens just as much as it does with mine. I remember my jaw hitting the floor went numbnuts got elected in ‘94. I thought surely this is an anomaly. It wasn’t and I for one did my part in imparting to my friends and family around the country that this dumbass isn’t qualified to change my air filter let alone by my President. So spare me your, “All Texans are drooling idiots” crap and do something about on your end.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:43 pmAnother bootlicking, asskissing, thug of the crime family. This guy will follow Dubya into the burning hell that is awaiting him.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:48 pmhear! hear! gregg/austin…
a worth while reminder…
September 14th, 2007 at 9:50 pm.
Wait a minute #60. You said Cornyn may be the dumbest Senator. I’ll raise you one Cornyn and bet a McConnell.
September 14th, 2007 at 10:05 pmOk, what the hell is holding up?
September 14th, 2007 at 10:16 pmMcConnelll is a Rhodes’ scholar compared to Cornyn!
September 14th, 2007 at 10:23 pmholding what up, zooey?
September 14th, 2007 at 10:40 pm…
oh! what is HE holding up?
September 14th, 2007 at 10:41 pmi wondered that also… … hoagies?
roast cornyn on the cob
September 14th, 2007 at 10:46 pmWhat a nut case.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:06 pmSo spare me your, “All Texans are drooling idiots†crap and do something about on your end.
Comment by Gregg aus Austin — September 14, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
Sorrry, I didn’t express myself like I should have! Instead of expressing my admiration for the people and the State of Texas, I let my feelings against W Bush bring out the worst in me. It’s just that I cannot stand the idea of good, decent people being killed and maimed for someone who cannot even say: I’m wrong.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:10 pmBush did a signing statement that says that he will continue to torture if and when he wants to.
These senators wanted to continue torture.
Stevens (R) AK
Sessions (R) Ala
Allard (R) Colorado
Pat Roberts (R) KS
Bond (R) MO
Cochran (R) MS
Colburn (R) OK
Inhofe (R) OK
Cornyn (R) TX
This list just about says it all.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:16 pmThey have no humanity or shame. Just like their ‘decider’. They agree with everything bushco does because it makes them very wealthy and when you sell your soul to the devil, it’s all about money and power.
roger roger – please tell me why people like you are so gullible now that when you hear the word iraq,you have visions of al qaeda as a force of millions?? – you really have swallowed everything bush and co have forced down your throats haven’t you? – iraq=alqaeda=9/11 and round it goes – and you can bet that like inhofe and cornyn,every repub in the nation will be lining up heaping praise on bush over the next month or so ( no surprises there ) and people like roger roger and jake et al will keep on lapping it up…..idiots
September 14th, 2007 at 11:31 pmand when you sell your soul to the devil, it’s all about money and power.
Comment by Lynne Kringler — September 14, 2007 @ 11:16 pm
Agreed! Is that all there is to it? Do we give up without a fight? Tell me, please.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:34 pmComment by JoeCaribe — September 14, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
Hey, no problem. Apology accepted. I understand. It’s hard to not have palpable disgust with any and everything associated with that sorry sack o’ shit. Just remember we’ve had almost 14 years down here looking at that damn smirk. God help us get of the Hell he’s created…..
September 14th, 2007 at 11:36 pmThe privilege of the few…
…is made possible ONLY…
…through the complicity and subornation of many…
…the criminal Bushite junta and their kind…
…thrive because sociopathic, psychotic, demonic White male hegemonists/supremacists, their lowly subordinate females…
…self-loathing ill-educated minority wannabes, and greedy international profiteers…
…aid and abet their inhumanity, hypocrisy, and insanity…
…profiting off the suffering of others…
…the Hindu believe that we are in the Age of Darkness…
…where only thieves, murderers and liars profit…
…seems they may have something…
September 14th, 2007 at 11:55 pmGod help us get of the Hell he’s created…..
Comment by Gregg aus Austin — September 14, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
The first people getting off that Hell he’s created will be 20, 30+ American soldiers, just like my sons and nephews. Yes, I’m all for it!
September 15th, 2007 at 12:04 amThe democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
September 15th, 2007 at 12:16 am–Thomas Jefferson
This list just about says it all.
They have no humanity or shame. Just like their ‘decider’. They agree with everything bushco does because it makes them very wealthy and when you sell your soul to the devil, it’s all about money and power.
Comment by Lynne Kringler
lynne you are an idiota. torture is a good thing, do you really think if we never tortured anyone that this would prevent a terroist from not torturing an american- this is naive. Radical islam says convert or die, do we want to live in a society like that?
September 15th, 2007 at 12:28 am–Thomas Jefferson
Comment by kevin — September 15, 2007 @ 12:16 am
Those who are willing to work: if they have a job and it if has not been outsourced in order to make make MORE money for the Corporation.
Those who would not: Are they trying to work but no work is available? What do they do?
Jefferson was right!
September 15th, 2007 at 12:36 amThose who would not: Are they trying to work but no work is available? What do they do?
get rid of the 20 million iillegal in the country so that more jobs are available
September 15th, 2007 at 12:54 amlynne you are an idiota. torture is a good thing, do you really think if we never tortured anyone that this would prevent a terroist from not torturing an american- this is naive. Radical islam says convert or die, do we want to live in a society like that?
Comment by kevin — September 15, 2007 @ 12:28 am
No, Kevin you are an idiot. You are a perfectly tragic example of how debased we have become. For the sake of argument let’s assume that torture actually works. The purpose then in torturing would be in gathering useful intelligence that furthers the efficacy of the process of preventing terrorist activities. It doesn’t. I can hook you up with any number of military or intelligence professionals that will tell you that the person being tortured will say ANYTHING to make it stop. Remember Khalid Sheik Mohammed? He confessed to everything from the Kennedy assasination to the Death of Disco. What you are illustrating to everyone by saying, “torture is a good thing,” is an inherent cowardice and sense of blind vengeance better suited to those you profess to be your enemies. Torture is licking the boot of evil. And you should crawl into a corner in shame if you truly believe that it is a “good thing.” And stay out of our way while we make things right again. Dumbass.
September 15th, 2007 at 12:56 amget rid of the 20 million iillegal in the country so that more jobs are available
Comment by kevin — September 15, 2007 @ 12:54 am
The jobs that they do you would’t even dream of doing. When was the last time you picked tomatoes and carrots, cleaned toilets or spent 8 hours under the sun fixing a roof? If you kicked them all out, you wouldn’t be able to survive, stupid. What’s wrong with a chance to become regular citizens? They pay taxes anyway. What’s the matter? Don’t you like the sound of Spanish? It was here before Americanish, learn your history!
September 15th, 2007 at 1:07 amRadical islam says convert or die, do we want to live in a society like that?
Comment by kevin — September 15, 2007 @ 12:28 am
Ok, so the paradigm is Radical Islam. How did we get to that point? Of course, by following the instructions of the Zionist Radical Right which is interested in cultivating hatred against Muslims. You know what: FU, I’m not buying!
September 15th, 2007 at 1:59 amCornyn doesn’t realize that there are more of US than Him!
September 15th, 2007 at 2:20 am“The purpose then in torturing would be in gathering useful intelligence that furthers the efficacy of the process of preventing terrorist activities. It doesn’t. I can hook you up with any number of military or intelligence professionals that will tell you that the person being tortured will say ANYTHING to make it stop. Remember Khalid Sheik Mohammed? He confessed to everything from the Kennedy assasination to the Death of Disco….
Comment by Gregg aus Austin — September 15, 2007 @ 12:56 am”
And most of what Khalid Sheik Mohammed has given his captors turned out to be good info that saved lives, period. Proper interrogation techniques work, and any number of military and intelligence sources will confirm that.
What you consider torture: Loud music, sleep deprivation, extreme room temperature, even waterboarding, are really psychological in nature. There is no real physical harm done.
I suppose we can always leave the interrogation of our enemies to our middle eastern allies, if you can live with the idea of a lot of folks walking around sans an eye, finger, hand…or simply dissapearing forever. That is where our information will be coming from if the bleeding heart libs have their way. Then we can all feel good about the fact that the United States doesn’t use any methods of forced interrogation, and simply try not to think about where our intelligence comes from.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:45 amCornyn is another typical Rethuglican Chickenhawk. He was born in 1952, so he was 18 in 1970. No mention of him joining Richard Nixon’s “surge” in Vietnam.
Though they are total reactionaries, about the only Republicans who have any credibility for their stand on the Iraq war are John McCain and Duncan Hunter(my nomination for the dumbest Rep congressman). They both actually served and have sons serving.
September 15th, 2007 at 8:12 am>Who is against fighting AQ in Iraq anyways?
If we executed everyone who lived in a trailer park (like many Bush supporters), there would be less incest in america.
Who is against less incest in america, anyway?
> And most of what Khalid Sheik Mohammed
> has given his captors turned out to be good info that
> saved lives, period.
Whose lives? What attacks? Cite? All the people that Padilla was planning to irradiate with the stuff scraped off 1 million glow in the dark watches? lol!
In any case, these “ticking timebomb” scenarios are so ridiculously rare that bringing them up serves no purpose but emotional blackmail to try and convince people we should torture first and ask questions later.
Torture should be illegal, period. In the ultra-rare hypothetical case that someone does truly save many lives by torturing someone, what jury is going to convict the torturer? They arent. Period. This wonderful and wholly legitimate concept of jury nullification serves as a legitimate way for “just torturers” to escape punishment for what would otherwise be an illegal act. In all honesty, you probably couldnt even find a prosecutor to prosecute such a hero. The legal defense known as “necessity” could also be legitimately raised, unless the person was tortured to death.
However, if torture is legalized as a general rule, then leaders can order it at the drop of a hat, and soon people are being tortured for nothing resembling a good reason. If you make torture illegal, those who order it would be jailed for criminal conspiracy if they begin to abuse the practice and start torturing everyone will nilly, as was done in abu gharib. If torture is in any way legal, a goverment policy of torture can be enacted and carried out with impunity. They can start a policy that says “torture everyone we have suspicions about” and nothing could be done about it. Legalizing something allows leaders to make it an institution instead of the rare but necesarry exception….
However, I dont expect ignorant rednecks like yourself to be able to get you mind around concepts like jury nullification and its place in our judicial system…. my advice to spend less time breeding and more time thinking but im sure that advice will fall on deaf ears..
September 15th, 2007 at 11:31 amCRAIG MURRAY: Well, the first thing I did was make a speech, openly pointing out the abuses, which hadn’t been done for many years. When I arrived, one of the things you have to do as a new ambassador is call on your fellow ambassadors, pay courtesy calls. And I kept saying to them, you know, to the French, the German, the Italian: “This is awful. It’s terrible what’s happening here. There are thousands of people being rounded up in prisons, tortured, killed, disappeared, and it all seems to have the backing of the U.S.A.â€
And they said to me absolutely straight, they said, “Yes, but we don’t mention that. You know, President Karimov is an important ally of George Bush in the war on terror, so there’s an unspoken agreement that we keep quiet about the abuses.†I decided not to do that and so went very public, making a speech outlining the abuses and drawing international attention to them.
I was seeing C.I.A. reports, which were passed on to MI6, which had been extracted from the Uzbek torture chambers.
I had been there for two or three months, which was long enough to know that, effectively, any Uzbek political or religious detainee is going to be tortured. There’s no question of definition here. You know, we’re not talking about ‘Is that or is that not torture?’ We’re talking about people having their fingernails pulled, having their teeth smashed with hammers, having their limbs broken, and being raped with objects, including broken bottles; both male and female rape, extremely common in Uzbek prisons. And from the security service, which was operating right alongside the C.I.A., we were getting this intelligence.
AMY GOODMAN: Another country highlighted in the Human Rights Watch report is Uzbekistan, the former Soviet republic that sits in Central Asia, north of Afghanistan. The report accuses Uzbekistan of having a “disastrous human rights record.†Three weeks ago, the former British ambassador to the country, Craig Murray, defied Britain’s Official Secrets Act by posting a series of classified memos that he wrote from his days in Uzbekistan, which up until recently was a close U.S. ally. Fearing that the British government would shut down his website, Murray encouraged other website owners to republish the materials on their sites. Hundreds have since taken up the call.
In one classified memo from July 2004, Ambassador Murray wrote, “We receive intelligence obtained under torture from the Uzbek intelligence services via the U.S. We should stop… This is morally, legally, and practically wrong.†A summary of Craig Murray’s memos read, “The U.S. plays down human rights situation in Uzbekistan. A dangerous policy: increasing repression combined with poverty will promote Islamic terrorism.†In another secret memo, Murray estimated the Uzbek government was holding up to 10,000 political and religious prisoners.
AMY GOODMAN: Boiled to death?
CRAIG MURRAY: Yeah, it was one of the first cases I came across, back in August or September of 2002. Two Muslim prisoners in Jaslyk gulag, which is an old Soviet gulag in the middle of the Karakum Desert, a sort of forced-labor camp, a terrible place where people are sent to die, effectively, two Islamic prisoners were boiled to death. They died of immersion in boiling water. The mother of one of the prisoners received her son’s body back in a sealed casket, was ordered not to open the casket, and just to bury it the next morning. Despite being in her sixties, she managed to get the casket open in the middle of the night, even though police were guarding the house outside.
She got the body onto the kitchen table and took a series of detailed photos, which she got to the British embassy. I sent them back to London — or, in fact, to Scotland, to the University of Glasgow, the pathology department. On the basis of these detailed photos, they did an autopsy report, in which they said that he had had his fingernails extracted, he had been severely beaten, particularly about the face, and he died of immersion in boiling liquid. And it was immersion, rather than splashing, because there is a clear tide mark around the upper torso and arms, which gives you some idea of the level of brutality of this regime.
AMY GOODMAN: Did you have evidence of C.I.A. or other U.S. or British or other government officials in the torture chambers with the intelligence or prison officials in Uzbekistan torturing people?
CRAIG MURRAY: No, I don’t think they ever did that, and I think they carefully avoided it. There is a fabric of deniability over the whole thing. They don’t go actually into the torture chamber. They receive the intelligence that comes out of the torture chamber, but they don’t enter it.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, you say that this president, President Bush’s relationship with Karimov in the Uzbek regime goes way back, and one of the links is Enron. Can you elaborate more on this?
CRAIG MURRAY: Yes. Enron cut a deal with Uzbekistan to exploit Uzbekistan’s natural gas reserves. Central Asia has the largest untapped reserves of oil and gas in the world. Uzbekistan doesn’t have much oil; it has a terrific amount of natural gas. And Uzbekistan dominates Central Asia. It has half the population of the whole region. It has, by far, the biggest army and the most muscle. So Uzbekistan was key to the energy policy, and that’s why Enron and Halliburton and all of the companies you very much associate with the Bush administration were in there plugging this policy of staying close to Karimov. And that’s why he was such a welcome guest in the White House. …………
But the wellspring of the whole policy of the United States was the ruthless pursuit of sectional oil and gas interests, and that originated with Enron. Obviously, once Enron collapsed, those interests passed on to other U.S. companies.
AMY GOODMAN: Like?
CRAIG MURRAY: Basically other major oil companies. But the sad thing, or the ironic thing, I suppose is the way to put it, is that ultimately the policy didn’t work, because having given probably about $1 billion over a three-year period and having even supported the Uzbek government at the time of the Andijan massacre, when the rest of the world was expressing outrage. The Uzbeks eventually cut a deal with Gazprom of Russia, and the United States then got kicked out of Uzbekistan very unceremoniously. They didn’t leave.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/19/1452237
September 16th, 2007 at 1:02 amI was seeing C.I.A. reports, which were passed on to MI6, which had been extracted from the Uzbek torture chambers.
I had been there for two or three months, which was long enough to know that, effectively, any Uzbek political or religious detainee is going to be tortured. There’s no question of definition here. You know, we’re not talking about ‘Is that or is that not torture?’ We’re talking about people having their fingernails pulled, having their teeth smashed with hammers, having their limbs broken, and being raped with objects, including broken bottles; both male and female rape, extremely common in Uzbek prisons. And from the security service, which was operating right alongside the C.I.A., we were getting this intelligence.
Yeah keven and bigfoot, just like the witches iof Salem, torture them and they will confess and name any one you want. You are crazy and not realizing the dead that we have killed WITH TORTURE. You are also ignoring the fact that these are SUSPECTS not even indicted let alone convicted. No lawyer, no jury, no judge and no verdict. Some turned in by their enemies, some for bounty and some for petty feuds. An Iraqi general turns himself in to the Americans and is beaten, stuffed upside down into a sleeping bag and suffocated to death. What does the American officer get? 60 days ‘in house’ detention’, after he turns on the Jimmy Swaggert tears and begs to be able to see his kids every day at home.
Torturers ar chicken shit, crybaby, bullies.
September 16th, 2007 at 1:13 amI am sorry to say that Cornyn is the Senator from my State, Texas. Hutchison is the other Senator, which means I am effectively unrepresented in the U.S. Senate. Sad.
September 16th, 2007 at 8:23 pm