It's the Monday after the weekend that George Bush vetoed a bill because it included a ban on torture - and the man who received his effusive endorsement (and certainty that he wouldn't change Bush's policies) - John McCain - is still flip-flopping on the same issue.
John McCain added a ban on torture to a defense spending bill in 2005 but voted against a bill tie the CIA and other civilain intelligence agencies to techniques allowed by the Army Field Manual - the very bill Bush just vetoed. That manual clearly prohibits waterboarding and other techniques used by the CIA.
Yet last night, 60 minutes aired an interview with McCain in which he flipped again:
McCain replied, "Sure, yes, without a doubt" when asked if waterboarding is torture.Raw Story has the clip.
"We prosecuted Japanese war criminals after World War II," McCain went on, "and one of the charges brought against them, for which they were convicted, was that they waterboarded Americans."
Asked "how did we lose our way," McCain answered, "I don't know the answer to that. I think one of the failures maybe was not to listen more to our military leadership, including people like general Colin Powell on this issue."
The Straight Talk Express needs to decide which track it wants to run on. Is John trying to be McSame and pander to the hardline Republican base who love torture and only wish for more and harsher methods, or does he want to refect the opinions of the majority of Americans who believe torture is not what America should be about? You cannot have America the lover of liberty and human rights at the same time as you have America the waterboarder. Only the psychopaths and dupes of the hard Right believe otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment