Defiance of international law wouldn’t but I think US law makes waterboarding illegal.
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Fixed it for ya.
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He’s got a cruel, sadistic streak about a mile and a half wide, and it’s pretty clear he has no idea why a civilized nation wouldn’t torture captives. I honestly don’t think he could make a counterargument besides some boneheadism like “it isn’t very nice” or so forth. Months ago Fallows noted, with some surprise, an instance where Trump actually recognized there might be two sides to a question. But it didn’t involve himself or anything he wanted. And it wasn’t that frickin’ nuanced—more like about average or a bit below. But right and wrong, the corrupting quality of torture, the fact that we’ve always banned it, and punished those who engaged in it, that it’s universally recognized as wrong—none of that registers with this monster. He wants to do it himself. I’d bet everything I own on that one.
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Shorter Shorter
HUH? WHAT?
The last time the country endured that ruinous torture debate we were ass deep in alligators in Iraq because of Bush’s ill-considered preemptive war. Having that debate again to satisfy the whims of a narcissistic ego maniac shortly after his message to CIA that they may get the chance to “take the oil” is insane.
This is insane.
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These guys have got to know that then things hit the fan, Trump will toss them under the bus. And when the bus includes the potential for 20 years of federal time…
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US law and the Geneva Conventions, which are the supreme law of the land under Article VI of the Constitution, prohibit inflicting severe physical or mental pain, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and torture but so far as I know do not specifically address waterboarding. That is the background that left room for the Bybee and Yoo memos to conclude that waterboarding is an “enhanced interrogation technique” that falls outside of the definition of torture. Obama issued an executive order that set those memos aside, but Trump can issue his own EO to reinstate the position that waterboarding is effective and legal.
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So Trump said he heard waterboarding works and wants to use torture, but both Pompeo and Mattis didn’t hear anything about this until yesterday? And Spicer has no idea about anything? What the fuck is this shit? I’m not talking about me here. I’m talking about our fucking country. These people have been entrusted with the safekeeping and running of our country and not a one of them sounds like they have fucking idea what they’re doing. I mean, other than grafting, that seems to be beautifully coordinated.
What are these people fucking thinking? This is your country, our democracy. Jesus fucking Christ.
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I suspect that most cabinet secretaries are going to be blindsided by Trump making up policy on the fly. It’s going to embarrass and humiliate them, but not enough for them to have the courage of their convictions and resign. Trump owns all of them. He owns the GOP too, they just don’t know that yet.
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It’s obvious they do, but they believe what Trump believes too.
McCain is making the rounds saying “the law” prohibits waterboarding. Do you know what law he’s talking about? I don’t think an EO can override it.
No kidding. What does it take to piss these guys off about their new boss?
I thought McConnell and Ryan promised they could keep trump reined in. Issuing EOs without consulting the cabinet chiefs? Do these trump appointees feel like fools yet?
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He’s probably talking about a 2015 law that makes the Army Field Manual the definitive authority on torture. There’s a very good discussion at Vox.
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At this point it is already becoming clear that Trump is going to have an incredibly disorganized and chaotic administration. Actually, “administration” should be in quotes as it is a one term oxymoron when used as a descriptor for the Trump regime.
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Trump still supports bringing back torture methods, however.
Because “lots of people” have told him “it’s very, very, very, very tremdous” at fighting “radical isalamic terrorism”. I mean, it’s just “unbelivable”.
Trump. “Why is it me, who must come up with all the good ideas ?”
Flynn stands behind him, smirking, because it was Flynn’s idea. As a matter of fact, Flynn was probably the “people at the highest level of the intelligence community” to whom Trump was referring on TV.