A side by side: US vs Al-queda

Dick Durbin on the United States Military Detainee Policy:
" On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more.
On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold....On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees.
The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."

Couple of things:
1. These are enemy combatants, dressed in Civilian clothes, and hiding amongst civilians. This is a direct violation of the Geneva convention. As such, they are not covered under the Prisoner of War arrangements.
2. These are Islamic Terrorists, who when captured, were in the midst of planning and/or executing attacks against civilians of the United States, The United Kingdom, and other western nations.
3. These are not US citizens, and are thus not subject to our justice system. See point one for why they should not be expecting fair treatment.
4. Why would you rip your hair out after being left in a room without AC, and with loud rap music playing? I'm sure I'm not the first to point this out, but thousands of American youth are in the same circumstances, (no AC, loud music) on a daily basis.

In summary, the US 'torture' techniques, for which our soldiers are referred to as Nazis and soviet executioners:
1. Chained to the floor.
2. No chair.
3. No food or water, for up to 24 hours.
4. So cold, the barefooted terrorist was shivering.
5. No AC, so he was sweating
6. He pulled his hair out.
7. Loud Rap music

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And this brings us to the other side of this war. Al-queda.

The Smoking Gun reports this (Hat tip to Little Green Footballs)
"MAY 24--In a recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq, U.S. military officials recovered an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like "blowtorch to the skin" and "eye removal." Along with the images, which you'll find on the following pages, soldiers seized various torture implements, like meat cleavers, whips, and wire cutters."

And here is a picture of the room. (Probably among the least gruesome of the photos)

"It was there, during an April 24 raid, that soldiers found a man suspended from the ceiling by a chain. According to the military, he had been abducted from his job and was being beaten daily by his captors. In a raid earlier this week, Coalition Forces freed five Iraqis who were found in a padlocked room in Karmah. The group, which included a boy, were reportedly beaten with chains, cables, and hoses."

Again, a few things:
1. These were regular citizens of Iraq, just trying to go to work every day. They were Muslims, taken by other Muslims, and subject to serious torture. If you want to see the results of the Islamic terrorists handi-work, click here, here, here, and here.
2. Regular guys, taken and tortured. To what end?
3. Not only were these civvies tortured, but the military recovered an Al-queada handbook, detailing how to apply these sick treatments to other captives.
4. Is this any surprise, after what they did to Nick Berg?

In Summary, a sample of Al-Queda torture techniques:
1. Beatings with Chains
2. Beating with cables
3. Beating with Hoses
4. Blowtorches to the skin
5. Eye removal
6. Removal of limbs with a meat cleaver

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We are at war with an enemy who shows no quarter, who will inflict punishment on the innocent for no apparent reason, hide amongst civilians, kill reporters with reckless abandon, spread their religion by the sword, and kill women and children with no compunction.
God help us, because as a nation, to few of us are willing to fight.

This is Memorial Day weekend ya'll. Let us not forget the great men who have paved the way for us to go swimming and enjoy a hot dog this weekend. Men of all manner of backgrounds, men like Washington, Issac Hull, Jedidiah Smith, Old Hickory, William Travis, William Sherman, Wyatt Earp, Teddy Rosevelt, Alan York, Raoul Lufbery, George Patton, Joe Foss, and thousands of others. If it was not for the actions, and deaths of these men, I would not be writing this tonight, and you would not be reading this today. It is for them we celebrate, and the freedoms they have helped to endure through the trials and storms of history.
And it is because men like this exist in this world, and men who will rise to the occasion in the future, that we will win this War. Freedom triumphs over tyranny, liberty over oppression, Right over Wrong.
Enjoy your weekend, and God Bless America.