Senator (Kit Bond): Some forms of waterboarding 'like swimming, freestyle, backstroke'

[sabra]

Source: USA Today

Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri is the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has been pressing CIA Director Michael Hayden on the destruction of videotapes that reportedly show terror suspects being waterboarded. Last night, he appeared on PBS' NewsHour with Jim Lehrer to talk about Hayden's recent committee testimony -- and he was asked about the controversial interrogation technique that critics say is torture.

"What the CIA is doing is not torture. It conforms to the Detainee Treatment Act, the Geneva Convention, the Convention against Torture. None of these things that are being used, by any stretch of the imagination, could be described as torture," Bond told interviewer Gwen Ifill.

Following up, Ifill asked Bond directly if waterboarding was torture. Bond responded by equating some forms of the technique to swimming.

"There are different ways of doing it. It's like swimming, freestyle, backstroke. The waterboarding could be used almost to define some of the techniques that our trainees are put through, but that's beside the point. It's not being used," Bond said. However, he went on to say that he "certainly would not favor it in any circumstance."

Read more: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/12/senator-some-fo.html

[begin_within]

1. Then maybe it should become an Olympic event!

[riona]

13. Sort of like an underwater luge event

[saigon68]

24. He is a Huge ASS WIPE

[gateley]

2. There are MILLIONS of people who will believe this shit. It's unfathomable that

anyone could buy it.

[KansDem]

3. This is beyond the pale...

It's like swimming, freestyle, backstroke.

Next stop: the Olympics, eh, Kit?

On edit: Damn! bob_weaver beat me to it!

[peacetalksforall]

9. with a saran wrap type plastic over the mouth? yep, free-style, saran

wrap is cheap

[Lerkfish]

4. there never was a larger pile of dung than Kit Bond

I know, I'm from Missouri.

my apologies to piles of dung.

[aquart]

5. Would he care to demonstrate?

[shain from kane]

8. He prefers to drown himself in whisky. Straight, don't dilute with water.

[aquart]

19. Fine. Demonstrate it with whiskey.

See? I'm open to compromise.

[alfredo]

20. Use that Canadian swill, not good Kentucky Bourbon. He's not worth it.

[Canuckistanian]

25. Hey! I like my Canadian swill.

And besides, it only causes blindness 20% of the time.

[alfredo]

26. Looks like they upped their quality control. Fear always made the

experience a real rush. A 50 50 chance of blindness was a terrific selling point.

[L. Coyote]

6. Waterboarding is a euphemism. It is properly termed "Water Torture"

At least we on DU should start calling it by the correct term, and object to the euphemism too.

[stillcool]

7. ranking member of the "Intelligence Committee"..

ah...it all makes sense now.

[Kutjara]

10. Um, if waterboarding is like swimming...

...then why is the CIA allowing "terrorist suspects" to go swimming during interrogation? Wouldn't this make it more difficult to extract information?

CIA Interrogator: Tell me, Mr. Qaeda, what was your role in plotting attacks in the USA?
Albert Qaeda: Sorry, say again? I can't really hear you. I've got earplugs in. I don't like getting water in my ears; it really hurts.
CIA Interrogator: I said, what was your role in plotting attacks?
Albert Qaeda: Sorry again, I'm too far away now. Ask me again when I'm down your end of the pool on my next lap.
CIA Interrogator: (waits) OK, now you're here. Let's try again. Mr. Qaeda, tell me in your own wor...
Al Qaeda: Look, this is really throwing off my rhythm. Can't we do it later? Say, over dinner?
CIA Interrogator: Um...yeah, we could do that.
Al Qaeda: Great! I'll finish up here, then we can go. Would you go get me a fresh towel, please?
CIA Interrogator: K.

Next week, we investigate the CIA's use of macramé as a form of punishment.

[micraphone]

11. Hey Kit, come back to planet Earth!

What a waste of skin

[Uncle Joe]

12. It seems to me, even Gwen Ifill has been soft pedaling water boarding as torture, referring to it

as "simulated" drowning, I believe the tone of her interviews are motivated to leave the impression that water boarding isn't torture and should be in some gray area. I believe this is because it just happens to be against another law that Cheney/Bush are breaking.

The way I understand it, water boarding is gambling with someone's life by literally drowning them in the hopes of getting useful information without that person dying. I don't care how you cut it, water boarding is torture, I would hope at this late point in the game after a near century of it being outlawed, the Washington punditry would have the common decency to know it.

It must be sweet living in those ivory towers.

[coalition_unwilling]

14. I saw the piece on the Lehrer News Hour last night. My wife had

to restrain me physically from bashing in the screen of our TV.

I swear to God, at one point, Bond was actually grinning while arguing that waterboarding was not torture. His debate opponent was none other than my traitor representative, Jane "War Pig" Harmon. She actually sounded fairly respectable, but only by contrast with that monster Bond.

The dominant feeling I had was "Oh great. Kit Bond has just given permission to every enemy, foreign and domestic, to torture American citizens and soliders who are detained." That Bond would smile while doing so really took the cake. The people of Missouri should be ashamed that Bond is their senator.

[IronLionZion]

15. Police officers get tasered. Regular US soldiers do NOT get waterboarded

because the US Military has an official policy of NOT using waterboarding. They don't use it on prisoners and they don't use it on trainees. They just don't.

Fuck Kit Bond. It's time for him to "go swimming" and see how he likes it. Yes, Kit Bond should be waterboarded to protect our freedom.

[Recursion]

28. Err...

Maybe not by policy, just like we "don't" blood our wings and bubbles in anymore, but...

[donkeyotay]

16. Bond R-POS, winner of the GOP freestyle lying your ass off event

says it's not being used - he can say that as long as no tapes show up.... He reminds me of Pat Roberts who was going to look into lies told for war, but had publicly stated that he didn't care if lies were told for war, he wanted us to get Saddam. As to conforming with the Geneva Conventions, it is so far beyond what is allowed it's not even in the same park or pool.

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/24/usint8614.ht...

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Summary of International and U.S. Law Prohibiting Torture and Other Ill-treatment of Persons in Custody
Last Updated May 24, 2004

Article 3 prohibits “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; …outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.”

[donkeyotay]

17. He must have felt differently when he voted to condemn Iraq for violations

Expressing the outrage of Congress at the treatment of certain American prisoners of war by the Government of Iraq. (Referred to House Committee after being Received from Senate)

SCON 31 RFH
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. CON. RES. 31

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 10, 2003
Referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the outrage of Congress at the treatment of certain American prisoners of war by the Government of Iraq.

Whereas Saddam Hussein has failed to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 678, 686, 687, 688, 707, 715, 949, 1051, 1060, 1115, 1134, 1137, 1154, 1194, 1205, l284, and 1441;

Whereas the military action now underway against Iraq is lawful and fully authorized by the Congress in section 3(a) of Public Law 107.FF09243, which passed the Senate on October 11, 2002, by a vote of 77FF0923, and which passed the House of Representatives on that same date by a vote of 296FF09133;

Whereas, in the ensuing conflict, Iraq has captured uniformed members of the United States Armed Forces and the armed forces of other coalition nations, including the United Kingdom;

Whereas several American prisoners of war appear to have been publicly and summarily executed following their capture in the vicinity of An Nasiryah, demonstrating, as the President said on March 26, 2003, that `in the ranks of that regime are men whose idea of courage is to brutalize unarmed prisoners';

Whereas Iraqi state television has subjected American prisoners of war to humiliation, interrogating them publicly and presenting them as objects of public curiosity and propaganda in clear contravention of international law and custom;

Whereas the customary international law of war has, from its inception, prohibited and condemned as war crimes the killing of prisoners of war and military personnel attempting to surrender;

Whereas Iraq is a signatory to the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, dated at Geneva August 12 1949, and entered into force October 21, 1950 (`the Geneva Convention' );

Whereas the Geneva Convention requires that `prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated' and specifically `must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity';

Whereas the Geneva Convention stipulates that `prisoners of war are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and their honour' and that `women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex';

Whereas the Geneva Convention declares that the detaining power is responsible for the treatment afforded prisoners of war, regardless of the identity of the individuals or military units who have captured them; and

Whereas the United States and the other coalition nations have complied, and will continue to comply, with international law and custom and the Geneva Convention : Now, therefore, be it


Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That Congress--

(1) expresses its outrage at the flagrant violations by the Government of Iraq of the customary international law of war and the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, dated at Geneva August 12 1949, and entered into force October 21, 1950;

(2) supports in the strongest terms the President's warning to Iraq that the United States will hold the Government of Iraq, its officials, and military personnel involved accountable for any and all such violations;

(3) expects Iraq to comply with the requirements of the international law of war and the explicit provisions of the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which afford prisoners of war the proper and humane treatment to which they are entitled; and

(4) expects that Iraq will afford prisoners of war access to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as required by the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Passed the Senate April 9, 2003.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:10:./temp/~c108oej81N::

[boricua79]

18. first of

he's wrong. Waterboarding was a technique specifically labeled as torture, and was used by the Japanese during World War II. It was torture then, and it's not in keeping with the Geneva conventions. If he's so sure of his argument, he wouldn't have a problem inviting a U.N. Human Rights inspector to be present at a waterboarding, so that the world body can render a verdict on it. They won't, because they know they're lying.

Second, feeling like drowning is not doing a backstroke or freestyle stroke...and this coming from a former swim team swimmer in high school. I know how to do pretty much everything that can be done in the water....none of them feel like drowning.

Third, if he's ok with it, let him apply the golden rule to this. Let himself be waterboarded, and if it's ok with him, let the practice continue.

I won't hold my breath. (pardon the pun!)

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. It's just like playing in the pool. Really, honest.... but we don't do it.

[daleo]

22. The thumbscrew is like a manicure

The rack is like a visit to the chiropractor.

[pleah]

23. Great! Let him be waterboarded today!

It's just like swimming.

[santamargarita]

27. What a Wanker!

It was always called "Water Torture" prior to the fascist Bush Crime Family’s 2000 Election Coup. As a Vietnam Vet, I went through survival school. I was dropped off somewhere at Camp Pendleton, CA with nothing more than an open parachute to simulate my plane being shot down. Of course I was captured, placed in a mock POW camp where I was beaten, stuffed in a small box and deprived of sleep for a week. I witnessed others being Water Tortured and I would prefer to being beaten and stuffed in a small box than go through that – it’s horrible and it is definitely TORTURE!

These right-wing assholes have no idea of they’re talking about!

[tabasco]

29. Typical chickenhawk coward.

Their cowardice is matched only by their inhumanity.

[JCMach1]

30. Waterboard the bastard, then let him decide

whether it is torture...

[Vinca]

31. You look at some of these people and you wonder how on earth

they managed to get to where they are. This guy's highest office should have been Chairman of the Selectboard of Podunk, Missouri. Take him beyond storm drains and he's lost.

[windoe]

32. Discredited himself,

"Ranking Republican on the Senate INTELLIGENCE committe' --What an oxymoron!