California Conservative

Democrats have complained about waterboarding for quite some time, saying that it’s torture and violates the Geneva Conventions. After reading this Washington Post article, it’s apparent now that they’re talking out of both sides of their mouth:

In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA’s overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.

Among the techniques described, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said.

“The briefer was specifically asked if the methods were tough enough,” said a U.S. official who witnessed the exchange.

Ms. Pelosi, among others, has some explaining to do. John McCain’s stance is sincere because he’s been subjected to torture while he was a POW. Ms. Pelosi, it appears, had a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment well after she sanctioned waterboarding. Perhaps the best explanation for her change of heart isn’t that she had a ‘Come To Jesus Moment’ but rather had a ‘Come to MoveOn Moment’.

Whatever motivated her to change positions, a question remains unanswered: Why the change? It won’t be sufficient to give an evasive answer, either. Specifics are needed as to why the change of heart, if that’s what really happened.

Here’s the most telling quote in the article:

“In fairness, the environment was different then because we were closer to Sept. 11 and people were still in a panic,” said one U.S. official present during the early briefings. “But there was no objecting, no hand-wringing. The attitude was, ‘We don’t care what you do to those guys as long as you get the information you need to protect the American people.’”

Think of how revealing that answer is. The first instincts after 9/11 was to do whatever it took to “protect the American people.” It wasn’t until groups like CAIR and the ACLU took exception that Democrats objected. What does that tell you about Democrats’ ability to prevent terrorist attacks? It tells me that they aren’t using everything that’s available. It says that they’re more worried about a terrorist’s civil rights than about protecting US citizens. That’s unacceptable.

Democrats rely on interest groups like CAIR and the ACLU for financing their campaigns. These organizations are doing everything possible to hamstring our intelligence-gathering capabilities. That’s a scary thought when you consider the fact that we’re fighting against ruthless, nimble foe that’s perfectly willing to wear us down over a long period of time.

We can’t afford to let Democrats, who are that influenced by people who don’t take national security seriously, have the White House levers of control. The thought is downright scary.

Technorati Tags: CIA, Waterboarding, Interrogation, ACLU, Nancy Pelosi, Jane Harman, CAIR, White House, Democrats, National Security, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog