Age: 42
Birthplace: Evanston, Illinois
Claim To Fame: actor
Why He’s The Insane Liberal of the Week: for his silly piece on the radically-Left HuffPo calling for Barack Obama to jail President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney for supposed “war crimes” because they used waterboarding on suspected terrorists. The outraged Cusack, most likely living comfortably off the millions he’s made off his way too long film career, thinks Obama needs to put aside the struggling economy for a minute and make jailing Bush and Cheney a top priority in his Presidential agenda: “The only relative argument that seems to make any sense is that President Obama may choose not to make the rule of law a top priority. This seems plausible and politically expedient, but dangerous and shortsighted — the world will only fully understand that America is in the process of renewal if justice is served.”
Woah buddy, somebody really needs to take Lloyd Dobler out back and calm him down!
Then maybe Cusack could step away from his Malibu, CA mansion and take a look at the real world, an oasis that finds that most Americans (esp. those of us who can’t afford bodyguards like Cusack) have a hard time feeling sorry for tortured terrorists willing to blow up innocent people at the drop of a hat. And if Cusack is really concerned about President’s committing war crimes, where was he when Bill Clinton invaded Kosovo without Congress approval? While we know that liberal actors come a dime a dozen peddling self-righteous, leftwing propaganda wherever they go in order to influence the dumb and naive, one can only hope that the new President is smart enough to turn a deaf ear to lies based on nothing but hate for the outgoing President.
glad to see CSPT now acknowledging that the U.S. under Bush has become a country that actually tortures its enemies – welcome to reality, it’s kinda bracing but you’ll get used to it!
For what it’s worth, the US has not ratified two additions to the Geneva Convention that were put in place in 1977.
What does Cusack being wealthy have any significance to the story about Bush and his fellow war criminals?
Most of those tortured were not terrorists, come to find out, don’t you know that? Why is doing the same thing Sadaam Hussein did okay because we do it? So, war crimes are okay with you all? Hmmmm…..torture, as Hussein did, and he had his reasons, but they were NOT reasonable, as are Bush’s UNreasonable. Torture according to the experts, in various intelligence agencies have stated, that besides being egregiously barbaric, it plain doesn’t work. Of course, it also leaves our own troops vulnerable to the same subjection, if caught. Are you all okay with that?
Gee, pre-emptive war, with numerous examples of prior knowledge of the WMDs NOT being there*, and hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings dead, why is that okay with you all? Our Iraq veterans insufficiently treated, hundreds of thousands homeless. You still applaude Bush’s war? By any legal standard, George W. Bush, Cheney and his cabal are genuine war criminals. Why is that okay with you all? There were no terrorists in Iraq, until we invaded the country and gave many thousands reason to be aghast at our unjustified bombing of an innocent country? We basically invited terrorism to thrive there. Of course though, the regular Iraqis, after numerous attempts to tell the U.S. to please stop bombing them, and please leave, “We don’t like having our loved ones die all around us,” they became insurgents. Incidentally, creating a democracy, as Bush so fraudulently, yet proudly exclaims, does NOT include torturing people. By the way the fellow that threw the shoe at Bush who was not actually trying to hurt Bush physically, but just insult him, and has been incarcerated, and tortured. You probably didn’t get the part, in the news, since you probably watch FOX, where he said, the shoe flinger, “this is for all the children killed, and maimed” something to that effect. But apparently an illegal, unjustified, using Bush tactics, like torture, and bypassing habeous corpus (established as the only humane way of operating legally long before even the founding of the US in Europe) doesn’t bother you all. We even plant the stories to make them like us (although I wouldn’t count on them liking us anyway) which is not a free press. I can’t seem to find the democracy part in the horror we created there.
Oh, the REAL “Mission Accomplished” occurred recently within this last year, because the major oil companies have set up shop there now, as planned all along.
*knowedge of no WMDs prior to invasion, came from:
weapons inspectors
Downing street memo
CIA
others sources also
This is from the Nuremberg trials, from Robert H. Jackson, the Associate Justice appointed by Truman, who took leave from the Supreme Court. He had this to say, which might be of interest:
“To initiate a war of aggression…is not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime, differing from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
Besides our using torture, cluster bombs, white phosphorous (virtually napalm), land mines, etc., which of course are war crimes, we did the “war of aggression thing”, which kind of makes us the “evil-doers”. Hard to fathom, isn’t it? Well, just because we aren’t seeing the dead bodies, and those maimed, blinded, paralyzed, doesn’t mean we should disregard that our country made it happen. Admittedly, Hussein did awful things, killing thousands in the course of his 20 years, but we killed hundreds of thousands in the course of six.
By the way, a soldier speaking said that you can’t talk to a single Iraqi who hasn’t had at least one member of their famiy killed from our invasion.
One more thing, I dare you to watch the Acadamy award winning documentary….”Taxi to the Dark Side”
According to John Kiriakou, the CIA agent in charge of interrogating Zayn Abidin Muhammed Hussein Abu Zubaida, said that Mr Zubaida “broke” within seconds, and
So, let’s ask ourselves a simple question: how many people’s lives should have been sacrificed to have saved Mr Zubaydah from a few seconds of waterboarding?
That, you see, is the trade-off. According to reports, we’ve used waterboarding on exactly three suspects, and have gotten actionable information from at least two of them.
It’s obvious that, if the CIA limited the interrogation method to only three high-ranking al Qaeda operatives, the CIA was looking for actionable information that only such men would have.
So, let’s have it: if we hadn’t interrogated Mr Zubaida in a fashion which had gained the information, would it have been worth one life? Ten lives? A hundred lives?
It’s nice to see idiots like Cusack projecting his moral authority to the masses. The hollywood left get the prize for being certifiably the most deranged group in American society that make their living escaping reality. At least they have a legitimate excuse for their lunacy.
I’m afraid Cusack may be disappointed in the new administration’s view of waterboarding. As we read this week, the jury is still out on exactly what parameters the newly elected president will want established as to the use of waterboarding. If he does make the exception for it’suse, it will certainly throw a twist in all the good HopeandChange basket Mr. Cusack is putting all his eggs in.
“President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of waterboarding and harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. officials familiar with drafts of the plans. Still under debate is whether to include a loophole that would allow exceptions in extraordinary cases.”
“Broke” ???? Sorry, but, suddenly speaking the words they wanted to hear still does not mean they got valuable information. So, is anyone going to take in the documentary I suggested, to better inform themselves, from relevant people within the government making statements? You will bring your knowledge up to speed. Are you up for the reality check? I doubt it.
Also, to say that waterboarding, which is what the networks constantly refer to, is all that took place is, more obfuscation. An Iraqi, who managed to maintain his sense of humor, despite the misery and horrors his country has endured, said, “The only electricity in our country we can count on is the electricity that is attatched to testicles.”
Dana, you, despite your blind adherance to the right wing perspective, are one I respect, since I believe you are basically well meaning, but why not expand your knowledge, sit down with your “beautiful bride” as you have refer to her (very sweet of you, by the way), and watch the documentary I suggested? Ask her what she thinks. The reason I suggest that, is because the multiple issues involved the points you’ve brought up, that need addressing, are covered, by those you would respect, soldiers in that film. I can’t sufficiently address those multiple issues here. Of course, if you just want to hold tight to the perspective you have, for fear of looking like you are leaning left, then, your score for objectivity is zero. It will be more about fitting into your club than seeing things as they are.
Incidentally, if regarding war crimes as a serious concern, puts me on the side of the “crazies” well, I’ll gladly stand on that side.
Well, blu, the agent who supervised the interrogation said that we got actionable intelligence out of it,
I understand that you don’t want to believe that it had any use at all, but the people in charge said that it did.
You still haven’t told us: how many lives is it worth to not interrogate such prisoners?
Again, the information that is contrary to what “information” you are talking about, is explained thoroughly in the documentary I suggested. The “info” caused more damage than it prevented. I’m not going to go on about it, because the expertise and documentation, more elaborately, and thoroughly cover it. Please be an advocate for the honor of our country, and its principles, and take the time to learn the actual facts, not the government propaganda officials. You can order the film through NETFLIX. I’ll re-engage this discussion after you watch it.
Also, the “information” was considered invalid by the Supreme Court, because the “info” is not dependable.
Answer the freakin question, blu. How many people’s lives are expendable not to make a guy feel like he’s drowning (when he isn’t)?
Blu wrote:
The courts cannot use information obtained by such coercion, true enough. But that isn’t the purpose; we aren’t looking for information to use at a criminal tiral, but information to interdict terrorists before they can strike, information to break up their plans before they can kill people.
That’s the whole difference between liberals and conservatives here: our friends on the left seem to think that this is a law enforcement problem, where conservatives understand that we are at war.
You are arguing for Un-American ways of operating. I suppose you wouldn’t dare watch the film, would you, Sharon? Soldiers who did the torturing, several, in fact, speak candidly. The main point, I realize you are making is that the effectiveness of saving American lives is what matters. Well, you are wrong there too. It is estimated that our torture policies fueled the opposing side’s intentions, killing many more Americans in the process, as well as Iraqis. By the way, American lives, precious as they may be, can’t be isolated in value, since lives of the many innocent Iraqis, whom we were supposed to be “saving” were lost, or damaged beyond repair, and did not deserve such a sentence. So, our policies have been not only horrific and anti-American, but counter-productive as well. And our soildiers did not deserve to be brought into battle, with the many horrors of war, thinking they were defending us against Osama bin Laden, when anyone with a brain, now knows that was a falsehood, knowingly perpetuated by the Bush administration. And what is even more unsettling, most of those detainees tortured, were innocent anyway. That makes me shudder. How about you? Does that make you uncomfortable?
Oh, and Sharon, you do know, actually I already said it earlier, waterboarding was only one tactic, basically the only tactic they talk about on the MSM, one tactic of the many tactics used, one of which, was actually squeezing childrens’ testicles to get parents to speak. Of course multiple forms of torture were in use, in fact, one report I’d heard was of a detainee enduring cuts on his genitals.
AND, Sharon, the use of waterboarding HAS killed people, because it is drowning, but can be stopped in time.
Oh, Dana, I don’t believe our present government anymore, on much of anything. (2 days away from the sun rising back on America though) In fact, the numerous flights exceeded three, in just flights alone, of CIA hauling detainees to countries where torture is “acceptable”. And, as a matter of fact, other countries, in which we were using airports, on the way to these “undisclosed locations” had protested our using their spaces to land for refueling, because of our dreadful policies of aggressive wars, torture, dishonesty, etc. I’d heard Duncan Hunter on the TV, and as usual, he’s full of lies, and a criminal apologist. The Washington Post has its right wing liars too by the way.
Blu wrote:
It is estimated that our torture policies fueled the opposing side’s intentions, killing many more Americans in the process, as well as Iraqis.
Blu, our Islamist enemies — and yes, enemies is the proper word — were the ones who have been using terrorism. Perhaps you will recall that it was al Qaeda which attacked the United States in 2001, long before the invasion of Iraq. Perhaps you will remember that it was in early 2002, long before the invasion of Iraq that the thugs captured and beheaded Daniel Pearl, a journalist.
Our enemies are not restrained by our Western notions of what is civilized, our enemies are not restrained by the Geneva Conventions, our enemies do not hesitate to hide behind the skirts of their women, and then try to use the world’s outrage at the deaths of women and children for propaganda.
Our enemies laugh at the kinds of outrage our friends on the left express, because they know that all it does is help their cause, and harm the cause of freedom and civilization.
It is estimated that our torture policies fueled the opposing side’s intentions, killing many more Americans in the process, as well as Iraqis.
Hmm. Haven’t seen any articles on Americans getting blown up, kidnapped, beheaded, etc. around the world. You got links to, say, some Americans killed in Europe, hijacked planes, etc.? I’m not talking about people who are in war zones. War zones, by definition are dangerous places to be. I’m talking about the people going to work in, say, an office building in New York. Got some links?
BTW, blu, I’m sure it’s a sad thing to use various techniques to get people to talk and I wish it were unnecessary. But I think it’s a far cry from sawing off the heads of journalists, using children and the mentally disabled as suicide bombers, and so on. Your moral equivalency is disgusting.
BTW, what happened to the Bushhitler lifetime dictatorship?
Why do we pay any attention to the Hollywood glitterati?
Perhaps the slack-jawed morons who believe those headlines in the supermarket tabloids do constitute a substantial voting blocc.
“If they be brained like them, the state totters“.
One word of the quote above has been changed in the interest of accuracy.
Opining, that’s all ya got. Facts….? Not so much.
Again, what does Hollywood have anything to do with this, other than they are human beings, and they think also. AND, Reagan…from Hollywood. Schwarznager (spelling probably wrong), Charleton Heston. You all should not bring up Hollywood as being bad bad bad, since you seem hypocritical, and/or myopic.
Is torture a policy of democracy? Are we trying to convince them they are being saved by democracy? Isn’t habeous corpus a policy of democracy? Why can’t we offer them that? There’s many other examples of anti-democratic MOs going on over there, that the US is opperating by as well. I’m trying to find the common sense that this site is supposed to be representative of. ??????
Sharon, you should do some research on that “sawing the head off” incident. Find out what the father of that poor fellow has to say. Do some research on psy-ops.
And don’t be saying things aren’t true, just because you don’t see it in your defense and oil industry owned media sources, unless you have the guts look at the contrary perspective, but you won’t.