Torture --- Real or Propaganda

Lee Ellis

Again, the newscasts are full of Congressional members arguing over the definition of torture and whether the USA has committed to it.

As almost any combat veteran can testify, torture is that which causes blood to leak or spurt and causes severe damage to the human body --- the cutting off fingers, toes, ears or nose or even blinding people, as has been done in the past not only by enemies in past wars, but also by Saddam and his torture room guards. It is also bamboo pieces of wood hammered into fingernails or hundreds of cuts that savage a face or body, leaving scars for a lifetime.

So called water-boarding, and intensive interrogation done by the USA, does none of these things. In fact, we water-board our own troops in order to make them understand it and not fear it if taken prisoner. If it were torture, we would NOT apply it to our own soldiers!

Of course, with all this world-wide publicity on world TV emanating from the USA TV stations, I am sure that our current enemies are also training their people, too, so they will no longer give out their terrorist plans to kill Americans or blow up American malls, schools or other arenas!

Our enemies no longer need to hire spies or moles, they just need to hire monitors to listen to American newscasts and read the New York Times to get the secrets they need to win over us. The people who bring up our secret techniques for obtaining information are Socialist-Democrats , anti-war radicals and RINOs who are more interested in greed and power for themselves or their groups than they are in protecting innocent American civilians and American troops!

During WWII, these people might well have been tried for sedition if they had given Hitler or Tojo our secrets for winning the war against either the Axis or the Asian enemies fighting us. But then, we had censorship, black-outs, and rationing. Civilians were brought into factories for building defense and military equipment. Even Hollywood was "drafted" to make patriotic films that united the American people in the "Win the War" efforts. We do none of this now.

For the media to keep calling this "The Iraq War" is misleading. That war ended with the defeat of Saddam Hussein. After that victory, al Qaeda took over with the help of money and weapons from Iran and Syria. Al Qaeda terrorists poured across the borders into Iraq and created local incidents to make it appear as if there were a civil war. There was no such war and we are now fighting with al Qaeda, not Iraq. If the media wants to be correct, this should be called "The al Qaeda War." We are simply using an ally, Iraq, as a base in the Middle East to better defeat terrorism.

For people, like Christopher Dodd, Joe Biden and even John McCain, and for the Supreme Court to agree, that we need the Geneva Conventions today so that our enemies will treat their American prisoners in the same manner as we treat our captives, is a sick joke. al Qaeda terrorists do not hesitate to decapitate their prisoners or to torture them slowly and painfully until dead. These non-uniformed civilian thugs from several different Middle-East countries have no scruples and no sense of decency nor genuine morality. For us to keep pretending that they do, or that if we simply negotiate with them, they will give us the world peace that the Miss Universe or Miss USA contestants always ask for, is beyond comprehension.

If America and its government does not wake up soon to face the realities of the world as it is in this century, then our children and grandchildren will be forced to suffer a future of domination by Middle East forces or Socialist and Communist governments.

Will they be asking why we allowed them to inherit such a world? The way you vote in 2008 will let them know in advance!

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Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and narrator, formerly with both CBS and Gannett (USA Weekend). He was also a combat veteran of WWII, having fought in the South Pacific invasions. He had the pleasure of interviewing Ronald Reagan as an actor and then later working to help him become Governor of California. At the age of 80, he is keeping busy writing and doing free lance narrations for radio and television. He is an active member of Rotary and the VFW.

indiolee@dc.rr.com