Larry Johnson on ABC News

This site has more Cheney
http://www.youtube.com/user/cheneywatch

I am glad that O has said there will be no action against those who did what they did at the time and at the time it was ruled legal. I read those protocols for this torture—having a doctor their, having strict rules—I have to tell you that it does not seem to be in the same ball park with the Hanoi Hilton or anything Saddam ever dreamed up. I ultimately do not think it is worth the questionable info and it is certainly not worth destroying our image of ourselves. But I don’t think this brand of US “torture” now revealed, would ever scare anyone in the future into spilling anything anyway.

Well, damn, it was good to see Larry, but I wanted to hear much more! 10 seconds wasn’t enough! It’s an important story and deserves considerably more time!

Stupid question but is military intellignece involved with some of these types of interrogations? The reason i ask is because my cousin was in the army and in military intelligence never left state side and while I know the army changes people, my cousin came out looking really haunted and had some disturbing personality changes and weight loss. I know very few people who pick up smoking after 23 or who is extremely out going and quick to smile and laugh become sullen and with drawn.

Now some of the comments by Larry make sense….

I am not sure why they are making such a big deal out of Zubiyda? There were actual prisoners that were killed through torture in Afganistan. The guards have gave public interviews saying that they beat the prisoners constantly for days and several end up dying. Zubiyda may have also been tortured, but others were actually killed. Is the difference that we have memos regarding Zubiyda and their is no memos with these other U.S. prisoners who were killed?

There is a lot more mistreatment and murder and torture. It was probably very widespread.

Talking about assassinations is the wrong topic, because we can’t even execute the captured jihadists.
Let’s face it people, all the tree hugging in the world won’t get us past this one.
I’ve heard several different reports on the total numbers taken in at Gitmo, but one thing is certain – not a single news report claims we executed a single terrorist there.
Nowadays, the tree hugging love and nuture crowd can’t face the horror of any war, let alone a single execution, let alone imprisoning the enemy that declares it will utterly destroy your Nation.
When we are constantly fed the crying whine that to kill the enemy makes us as bad as they are, we are on a long road to an endless war that never has any finality nor any reduction in the enemy.
This is the new zeitgesit, the new mental (and yes it’s mental) make up of the tree hugging class of talking heads all over the tube and the internet – and what better way to survive to kill the enemy than to make sure they are convinced that to kill you, the enemy, would be a terrible breach of all that is good.
Yes, we have a mental problem now, after decades of tremendously pleasurable and relatively safe and gloriously comfortable living, even the poorest 20% of the USA live like kings, and cannot imagine a world where a raving band of lunatics wages a war of total destruction of a nation.
So here we are, talking about violating “everything we ever stood for” like the little sissie sisters with pointy glasses on, and haughtily patting ourselves on the back claiming we are a love filled bastion of justice.
Then of course, on our own streets, as Jane not so obviously points out, Police Officers gun down assailants, killing them, if they dare make a move that looks like they’ve drawn a gun – and they lay there dead.
I find it difficult to have the realities of just the drug war on the streets of the USA coincide with the ideations of love and peace and freindlines in war on terorrists.
Maybe someday people will have had enough and decide as a whole that being holier than thou public crybabies and tree hugging pants wetters calling for terrrorist rights and declaring everyone caught is innocent and needs a trial – is not the way to go.
But then I doubt it.
I look toward the UK and Europe and see what printing a cartoon is all about, and my conclusion is we have a bunch of chicken hearted bed wetters that prefer coddling their killers over saying ” just kill them” – which is of course my preferrred stance. I guess I’m a reckless world war 2 styled, uncaring, jaded soul.
Can we get to the point when the general babbling crybabies finally have had enough, and as they are curled up in their fetal position, exclaim, “just kill them” ? I suppose we’d have to have a terrible nuclear explosion or some other grotesque loss of life for that to occur – and even then I suspect the idiots at the helm would prevent exactly that, anyway.
No winners or losers allowed, even when fighting a war against Islamic terrorists. Wonderful, just wonderful.

I saw this since I find ABC to be the best of the network newscasts given they have Jake Tapper and all.
When I saw Larry, I said to my husband, “It’s Larry – It’s Larry!” He thought I had gone bonkers until I explained who Larry was.

Even though brief, Johnson’s comments made good sense.

Obama appearing less than confrontational is key, the notion he has to play cowboy at these appearances would fuel the reactionaries who anticipate as much and shape major campaign seasons around such response.

Appearing to accomodate to that extent will likely boost the outcome of coming campigns in those lands for politicans leaning to American aims. It could moderate a victory by the incumbents with the removal of the USA as something to run political campaigns against. Win-win. One by legitmate political means of mdoeration, the other plausibly in the way you appeared before said results.

Counterpunchers learn to go with the flow and hug the hits before they can get a wind up and weight behind it. Step on their toes hugging them and they can’t hit you nearly as hard.

This isn’t the sheriff of a Texas county at stake. The cowboy bravado isn’t worth it here. Some Somali pirates learned the meaning of bravado recently.

The next problem with pirates isn’t people trying to get on board and kidnap for money. It will be boaters with RPG and explosives loaded up and ramming like what we saw recenlty at India….