From the Hugh Hewitt Show...
"HH: Now your former colleague, John McCain, said look, there’s no record, there’s no evidence here that these methods actually led to the capture or the killing of bin Laden. Do you disagree with that? Or do you think he’s got an argument?
RS: I don’t, everything I’ve read shows that we would not have gotten this information as to who this man was if it had not been gotten information from people who were subject to enhanced interrogation. And so this idea that we didn’t ask that question while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was being waterboarded, he doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they’re broken, they become cooperative. And that’s when we got this information. And one thing led to another, and led to another, and that’s how we ended up with bin Laden. That seems to be clear from all the information I read. Maybe McCain has better information than I do, but from what I’ve seen, it seems pretty clear that but for these cooperative witnesses who were cooperative as a result of enhanced interrogations, we would not have gotten bin Laden." (Interview with yet un-named Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum May 17th, 2011)
In recent days, several official and expected Republican candidates for the right to face off against Barack Obama in our next Presidential election in the Fall of 2012, have made some remarkable statements. While I scratch my head and try to figure out Newt Gingrich's strategy, I wanted to take a moment and comment on Rick Santorum's remarks about John McCain and how Mr. McCain "...doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works."
Really?
I'm no big fan of Mr. McCain. I admire his military service and considered voting for him in the '08 election. I wound up voting for Barack Obama and feeling sorry for McCain. The campaign got away from him, adding Sarah Palin to the ticket was a panic move which wound up hurting more than helping. I think he is a patriotic American and his years in the "Hanoi Hilton" are a reality I can read about all I want but never fully appreciate. Spending/surviving six years of imprisonment, torture and isolation and emerging from it alive is impressive to me.
After "recovering" from his crash related injuries and extended periods of solitary confinement, a series of beatings and "rope bindings" pushed McCain to what he describes as his breaking point. "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine." Feeling his anti-American statement was dis-honorable, McCain refused to ever cooperate again with his captors. McCain was finally released on March 19, 1973.
How can Mr. Santorum suggest that McCain doesn't understand torture? Well, for starters, Santorum has never served in the Military. What he knows about torture comes to him from third parties, like it does for most of us. McCain's POW record isn't in dispute, on what basis does he question his comprehension of torture?
As a likely candidate for the GOP nomination, I think Santorum, like others this week, provided self-serving comments to advance his own cause. He can disagree with McCain's opinions on the effectiveness of enhanced interrogation techniques (ETT), but in my opinion, its patently stupid to suggest John McCain doesn't understand how it torture works.
One can only imagine how the Senator from Arizona felt upon hearing of Santorum's comments. The body of evidence that questions the value of ETT is growing. It is, under this President not something we do. I understand there's a fine line that's very gray when it comes to obtaining information from prisoners and enemy combatants. In this case, the military man says its not what we should be doing, while the civilian who never served and is looking to market his brand as a serious contender for POTUS in 2012, says its proper.
He ought to, at the very least, clarify his comments toward Mr. McCain.
Sources:
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