It’s Time for Truth on U.S. Torture (what is it?)

Before we start calling our Senators , we ought to know what were talking about.

Back in Oct of 2006 O'Riley asked UU Rev. Kathleen McTigue if terrorists should be treated as POWs and compelled to give only name, rank, and serial number according to the Geneva Convention, or if they could be coerced to give more information, and if "Yes" what were the boundaries for such coercion.

She didn't know. She said she couldn't define torture, yet she was sure Sen Lieberman advocated it.

If we give combatants fighting outside the boundaries of the Geneva convention, the rights of the Geneva Convention, then all they can be asked is name, rank, and seriel number. They're not criminals to be sent over to civilian courts for show trials. They're POWs in for the duration.

But if they can be questioned further, than the boundaries need to be defined. We don't try to explain those limits in this appeal. We don't even link any guidelines. We don't even link the trial in Obama's own backyard with Cmdr Burge and the years of torture inflicted by the Chicago PD. Stuff far worse than anything that's been found at Bagram, Gitmo, or Abu Garib.

That's sloppy and a cheap shot on the people who struggle with the balance between our security and the rights to be afforded people who by fighting outside the rules of war have no formal rights what so ever. We ought to be more serious about serious stuff. Just rendering these souls to Yemen (which seems to be the current administrations course of action) is an abdication of a grave responsibility.

Time for truth indeed. What is our truth here?