or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
April 30, 2012
The Lighter Side of Torture
Jose Rodriguez, former Director of the National Clandestine Service at the CIA, has written a book called Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives. It turns out that waterboarding (1) isn't torture and (2) is so incredibly horrible that it forced terrorists to give up information they never would have otherwise.
So that's pretty funny. But this part is even funnier:
You don't join the CIA if you have an overwhelming urge to be universally loved. But it is hard to explain how debilitating it can be to be constantly undermined and second-guessed.My first significant experience with inquisition-by-overseer came during the mid eighties when I was stationed in Central America. The CIA found itself embroiled in the so-called Iran-Contra controversy.
So...being questioned about possible violations of the Constitution is like an inquisition. What's apparently not like an inquisition is using torture techniques actually used in the inquisition.
P.S. Hard Measures was written "with" (i.e., by) Bill Harlow. Harlow used to be George Tenet's spokesman/lickspittle, and also wrote Tenet's book At the Center of the Storm. And Harlow told one of the most blatant and egregious WMD lies in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. So he was clearly the man for this job.
P.P.S. Rodriguez worked in the CIA's El Salvador station during the eighties, so given the massive amount of hideous torture in which he must have been involved during that period, it's not surprising that he doesn't get the fuss over a little waterboarding.
—Jon Schwarz
Posted at April 30, 2012 02:17 PMI just thought I'd come over and be the first commenter to use the phrase "nobody expects".
Posted by: otto at April 30, 2012 04:16 PMWater boarding forced those suspects to give up information that they made up to stop the torture.
The real terrorists are the ones who water boarded other humans, or approved it, or condone it.
Rodriguez is a flat-out terrorist, along with a destroyer of the US Constitution.
Posted by: Susan at April 30, 2012 04:17 PMYou know, you could make the case that those that just want to use "enhanced interrogation" and not torture hate America. If you want to save American lives why limit yourself and not use all the most efficient techniques available? Why "splash a little water on somebody's face", that's not going to force a confession out of anybody. Bring on the rack, the boot all the worst of medieval torture.
Posted by: Härj at April 30, 2012 04:59 PMPointing out logical inconsistencies in Jose "the hangman" Rodriguez's arguments will make the terrorists win, Jon.
All that aside though, he is the perfect man for the job — ruthless, no moral compass and willing to get the job done, which is surely why he found himself in the position he was in...
"So-called" Iran-Contra controversy? Ha, love this guy.
Posted by: Rob at April 30, 2012 06:08 PMIf Rob hadn't mentioned "so-called" I would have had to.
Posted by: darrelplant at April 30, 2012 08:35 PMYes, "so-called". I don't know of any evidence that any of the proceeds of weapon sales to Iran actually went to the Contras. It could just as well have lined the participants' pockets. In other words, Iran was one scandal, and the Contras was another, both cunningly neutralized by churning them together.
Anyway, weren't the Contras funded by importing cocaine to L.A.?
Posted by: Nathan Myers at May 1, 2012 04:38 AMOpenly criminal! Ah, remember the good ole dayz when one didn't brag about one's war crimes. Apparently, even the mere pretense of decency and a sense of humanity have gone the way of the Buffalo.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at May 1, 2012 07:57 AMNathan Myers: Sounds plausible to me. Most likely El Suicida and the Contras were supporting themselves more so than "The(so called)True Belivers In The Cause" such as Ron, Jose, and Olie.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at May 1, 2012 08:12 AMMAY BE, mat be, Mr Rodriguez would change his "opinion' after reading 6 million pages of documents!!!!
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/30/senators-enhanced-interrogation-techniques-ineffective/
"All that aside though, he is the perfect man for the job — ruthless, no moral compass and willing to get the job done, which is surely why he found himself in the position he was in..."
Bingo...and if he was not willing to do this he would have been replaced by someone who would, or more likely, weeded out long before.-Tony
Posted by: tony at May 1, 2012 12:40 PMActually the involvement of Contra figures in drug trafficking was not a major factor in their financing. It became an issue mainly because the DEA was being overridden by "security" agencies supporting the terrorists.
I wouldn't be surprised if money raised by arms sales to Iran didn't actually go to the Contras, but that was the intent of the deal. The Boland Amendment had cut most official US funding to the contras, so the Reagan regime went undercover, with corporate media complicity of course.
My guess is that Rodriguez' dismissal has less to do with how much drug or Iranian money went to the Contras, and more with his agreement with American aims and tactics in Latin America and elsewhere: funding terrorism in Nicaragua isn't scandalous, it's true Americanism.
Posted by: Duncan at May 1, 2012 12:44 PMSuch warped THINKING, LOGIC and a lot of lies!
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/former-cia-official-seeking-confirm-efficacy-torture-does-opposite
Such warped THINKING, LOGIC and a lot of lies!
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/former-cia-official-seeking-confirm-efficacy-torture-does-opposite
Sorry about the duplicate entry...... it was stuck...
Is CISPA working?
I'm betting that Deadeye and Codpiece The Pet Goat gots the world's biggest and bestest collection of torture&snuff flicks. Jose ought to call his life's work just what it is---entertainment.
On a lighter note---went up in the hills today and cut FRESH asparagus. Ate so much while cutting it that I won't cook any for supper. Yum!!!
Posted by: Mike Meyer at May 1, 2012 07:27 PMNathan Myers :
Read about Gary Webb, who exposed the Contra drug running program (also Robert Parry before him) in the "Dark Alliance" series of articles :
* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/storm.htm
The CIA may or may not have been directly involved in the drug sales, but let's just say even if not involved directly, they were more than willing to turn a blind eye to it — as was the case in the Golden Triangle during the cold war.
* www.amazon.com/The-Politics-Heroin-Complicity-Global/dp/1556524838/ref=dp_ob_title_bk/177-4645827-7835734
The basic idea is that the bad boys and thugs get a free pass to carry out their activities as long as it's not TOO destructive (to us) and they are useful for something. This is also known as "US foreign policy".
Iran-Contra files here :
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/irancontra/irancon.html
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/nsaebb2.htm#1
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/pktstmny.htm
(this comment originally didn't get through, possibly because of all the links, so I removed the http prefixes...)
Posted by: Rob at May 2, 2012 08:51 AMNathan Myers :
Read about Gary Webb, who exposed the Contra drug running program (also Robert Parry before him) in the "Dark Alliance" series of articles :
* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/storm.htm
The CIA may or may not have been directly involved in the drug sales, but let's just say even if not involved directly, they were more than willing to turn a blind eye to it — as was the case in the Golden Triangle during the cold war.
* www.amazon.com/The-Politics-Heroin-Complicity-Global/dp/1556524838/ref=dp_ob_title_bk/177-4645827-7835734
The basic idea is that the bad boys and thugs get a free pass to carry out their activities as long as it's not TOO destructive (to us) and they are useful for something. This is also known as "US foreign policy".
Iran-Contra files here :
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/irancontra/irancon.html
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/nsaebb2.htm#1
* www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/pktstmny.htm
(this comment originally didn't get through, possibly because of all the links, so I removed the http prefixes...)
Posted by: Rob at May 2, 2012 08:52 AM"Inquisition-by-overseer"? Wasn't that Torquemada's role? Thank goodness at least Rodriguez has written a book.
Posted by: tom allen at May 2, 2012 12:28 PMWhat's funny is we know exactly what the signs are of someone who is going to abuse his power, and they are all in plain view in this book:
He feels the power he serves is benevolent, although it requires his help:
...where I excelled was in the personal interview. Two Agency officers from the Cudban operations group at the CIA were among those who assessed me. I later learned that they went to bat for my candidacy, having been impressed with my "street smarts."
"I was sorry for any inconvenience to President Bush..."
Loves exceptional status over praise:
"I wish all my decisions and all my actions were universally supported and applauded. But I am comfortable with who I am and what I have done... I am uniquely positioned to explode some myths and clarify some mysteries..."
"So there I was, one of the most junior officers, with daily access to the country's president..."
"They had never before felt such an enormous sense of responsibility, nor had they participated in any other program that contributed so much to protecting the safety of Americans and our allies around the world".
The word "never" appears 100 times in the book.
This mentality is what allows one to carry out atrocities. Recall, the Bush admin created its own reality.
One can find this in the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Weni the Elder wrote of his first king:
[I was a child] who fastened on the girdle under the majesty of Teti; my office was that of supervisor of [....] and I filled the office of inferior custodian of the domain of Pharaoh.
........ [I was] the eldest of the [...] chamber under the majesty of Pepi. His majesty appointed me to the rank of companion and inferior prophet of his pyramid-city. While my office was ..... his [majesty made me] judge attached to Nekhen. He loved me more than any servant of his.
[...]
This army returned in safety, (after) it had hacked up the land of the Sand-dwellers; this army returned in safety, (after) it had destroyed the land of the Sand-dwellers; this army returned in safety, (after) it had overturned its strongholds; this army returned in safety, (after) it had cut down its figs and vines; this army returned in safety, (after) it had thrown fire in all its [troops]; this army returned in safety, (after) it had slain troops therein, in many ten thousands; this army returned in safety, (after) [it had carried away] therefrom a great multitude as living captives. His majesty praised me on account of it above everything.
(source: http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/weni.htm)
