tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23490549.post115854755335779476..comments2023-10-21T20:04:18.267-04:00Comments on TwoConservatives: One thought about MTP DebateCharleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04551264439871137611noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23490549.post-1158552843323694072006-09-18T00:14:00.000-04:002006-09-18T00:14:00.000-04:00Another source says I'm being too dismissive of th...Another source says I'm being too dismissive of this argument. <BR/><BR/>It is true that the Al Qaeda detainee Al Libi, who was captured in 2001, was a source for one specific piece of intelligence information later found (in 2004) to be untrue -- the claim that Al Qaeda was receiving chemical weapons training in Iraq. <BR/><BR/>It is not known whether Al Libi was threatened with torture or not -- an MSNBC report suggested that Libi was told he would be turned over to his home country, which may be considered "coersion". Our government has flatly denied that they "tortured" or applied direct coersion methods such as would be effected by the geneva conventions (telling a prisoner they would be returned to their home is not against the convention). <BR/><BR/>But, it is cited by many as an example where coercion gave us bad intel. <BR/><BR/>And since this one story has gotten so much play, and was in fact part of the democrat talking points, it is possible this is what Webb was refering to. <BR/><BR/>Not an example of us torturing or coercing people into false testimony, at least not acknowledged, but still a story out there which fits the scenario.Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04551264439871137611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23490549.post-1158552100352817062006-09-18T00:01:00.000-04:002006-09-18T00:01:00.000-04:00The information used prior to the war in Iraq was ...The information used prior to the war in Iraq was from informants, not captured terrorists.<BR/><BR/>Some had been totured, by Saddam, but not by those they were giving information to.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure why you would think torture was used to get information. We were of course capturing terrorist after 9/11, but those terrorists were Al Qaeda in afghanistan, and wouldn't have had information about Iraq WMD. <BR/><BR/>The intel about Iraq was coming from Iraqi sources. And we of course were NOT "capturing" Iraqi officials in order to torture them and get information.Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04551264439871137611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23490549.post-1158550756058270342006-09-17T23:39:00.000-04:002006-09-17T23:39:00.000-04:00You make an assumption about intel used in the cas...You make an assumption about intel used in the case for Iraq—that we didn't use torture to get it. This is actually a clever trick. The US may not have, but other countries did, then it was added to the mix to push the case for war. And in the end it was still unreliable and false.<BR/><BR/>Much of the Iraq intel–at least the portions pushed by Cheney still to this day–did in fact rely on information coerced through torture.zenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06084723698281173517noreply@blogger.com