American-Manifesto.com In Defense of American Exceptionalism

The left is once again peddling the nonsense about torturing of terrorist detainees. 

Let’s get a few things straight.

1. As has been repeatedly stated (and ignored by the left) U.S. policy does not allow torture.
2. We have the most professional, ethical and restrained military literally in the history of the world.  That’s not an exaggeration.
3. The left and the media are deliberately manipulating the story.  
4. Regardless of the items above, the detainees are not protected by the Geneva Conventions anyway.
5. What is being described is not torture.

The headlines scream “Torture!” but the details buried in the stories are far less clear.  For instance, literally 14 paragraphs into the linked AP story, there are finally some details about what was alleged to occur.

The alleged torture, which he detailed in a written statement, included being beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female personnel.

Note the use of “alleged”.  Where was that in the headline?  Where is the discussion in the article about how Al Qaeda teaches its operatives to claim they were tortured?  Al Qaeda knows how to manipulate the media.  Why is the media so blinded by ideology that they always uncritically report anything from our enemies and so skeptically from our military or President?

Furthermore, let’s look at the details of the “torture”.

• Beating - That could be abusive or not depending on the circumstances.  If he started a brawl with guards and got roughed up in the process, he could claim he was beaten.  But is that torture?  No.
• Stress Positions - When I was in boot camp, our drill sergeants had this bit of fun for us called “Riding the Harley”.  To “Ride the Harley” you held your rifle straight out in front of you at shoulder level, arms fully extended, bent your knees so your thighs were just above being parallel with the ground and then you raised up on your toes.  Obviously it vaguely resembled riding a motorcycle without the bike.  Was that torture?  We also got tear gassed and pepper sprayed, by the way.  Was that torture?
• Threatened with Dogs - Not attacked with dogs.  Threatened by dogs.  Please.
• Loud Music - Was it elevator music?  Then my old dentist tortured me.  Where’s my lawyer?
• Freezing Temperatures - Where?  In Cuba?  Did they build a special walk-in freezer for torturing detainees?  If all they did was crank up with air conditioning, then my wife would probably claim I torture her.  I also walk past a large construction site every day.  The high temperature has been in the 20s this week.  Are the workers being tortured?   How about the window washers dangling from across the street from my office building the other day?
• Stripped - Mr. Tough Guy is a terrorist but somehow his dignity is irreparably destroyed by being naked in front of female Marines?  Pathetic.  The female Marines probably have a better case for sexual harassment than he does for torture.

So, wait, that’s it?!?  There’s not even an allegation of water boarding!  This is torture?  I don’t think so.

Here’s what the media isn’t telling you.  The whole reason there is a controversy and debate over this is that all of these things fall in the grey area beneath torture.  In other words, it’s not self-evidently torture.  If we want to hold a debate over whether to categorize these things as torture, that’s fine.  But that isn’t what the left is doing.