Community | May 04, 2009 | 44 comments

Rice takes question from 4th-grader on torture

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gqMnV87BRVk-pjqlPP-xqzsMMG0QD97VLURG0

Image
current89
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Jewish elementary school students that the Bush administration did not use illegal interrogation tactics. Her remarks were in response to a question from Misha Lerner, a fourth-grader at the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Rice spoke at the school Sunday before giving a lecture at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.

Lerner asked Rice what she thought about the Obama administration's remarks on interrogation methods authorized by its predecessors.

Rice responded that she didn't want to criticize President Barack Obama. But she also said that President George W. Bush assured his administration that "we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally."

"I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country," she said. "Even under those most difficult circumstances, the president was not prepared to do something illegal, and I hope people understand that we were trying to protect the country."

Last week the former secretary of state told Stanford University students that "we did not torture anyone."

End of excerpt

Source: Associated Press Online

Damn, that 4th grader had chutzpa.
  1. groups:
    Community,   US Politics,   Editor's Picks
  2. tags:
    News,  Barack Obama,  Interview,  US Politics,  3 more
  3.     
    |

44 comments // Rice takes question from 4th-grader on torture

  • masterzip
  • 24French
  • uroborus8
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • BTW most of the policing in the world is thrown at our country. Do I agree we should do this, no. But it so happened we were the ones with the means to do so.
      The rules were written by a group, most of who are not ever involved directly in the solution to the problems thrown our way. Yes, we need to be ethical, humane and respectful but on the other hand most of if not all of the wrongs perpetrated against others that we seem to be asked to 'fix' never follow any rules but their own.
      It's never a win/win solution.

    • 3 years ago
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • Come on, guys. What did you want her to say.... 'we scared the livin' sh*t outta those SOB's so we could save your sorry, ungrateful little *sses.
      She spoke her heart in words elemenary ed. students could understand. And inspite of it all she remains a class act.
      She can't be all THAT bad: she rocks to 'Zeppelin. In my book that scores a point.

      Hey, you know what they say about opinions....just like @ssh#l^s eveyone has one.

    • 3 years ago
  • Varex_Sythe
    • 0
      Varex_Sythe  
    • nursediesel:

      I'd at least like her to say, "Yes we tortured, yes we knew torture was an ineffective means of information gathering and probably gave the enemy more sympathizers, and yes we regret doing so now that these things have been made public knowledge ."

    • 3 years ago
  • Panzer_Tanzler
    • 0
      Panzer_Tanzler  

    • You're all pretty good at assuming this fourth grader could handle the truth. "So yeah, everyone lies to you and we torture and Santa isn't real and oil is important and McDonald's will kill you and Regan came up with crack and your Mom and Dad got married because of your unexpected arrival." You all seem to think that a lie is this horrible thing, but when was the last time you lied to a nine or ten year old? If you say never, you're lying. These weren't adults who comprehend the world around them, these are kids who just found out about puberty! It's okay to let kids know that their home is safe and practices justice. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for saying Rice is a dumbass, when you know in your heart you couldn't break it to a group of children that their nation practices torture.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ

      That's for you who just realized you're heartless bastards...

    • 3 years ago
  • cabinettags
  • treeneb420
  • treeneb420
  • Khidrock
    • 0
      Khidrock  

    • Hahahahahahhaah AHHHHH hahahahhaah, omg I can't believe this for a number of reasons "But she also said that President George W. Bush assured his administration that "we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally."" hahahahahahhahahaha ah hahahahaha. Because GW isn't human and therefore incapable of lying...or fibbing....omg

    • 3 years ago
  • Leonidis
  • AveryMoore
    • 0
      AveryMoore  

    • Poor Condi, out gunned by a grade four student and her with all those sheepskins!

      Most of us have noticed that on the subject of torture it's advocates tend to respond with lies, exaggerations and hysteria. Should you be so tactless to say the military is opposed to torture, the intel services and law enforcement people are just as opposed, you are obviously an America-hating terrorist loving pinko-fascist bleeding-heart wimp.

      So I guess that includes Mr CIA, actual torture victim Bob Baer. If you've seen the movie "Syriana" (where George Clooney has his fingernails pulled out) - that happened to Bob Baer. AS Baer suggests you'll say anything to make the pain stop, but it needn't ever be the truth. And that's the problem.

      Bill Maher's interview with Baer covers a lot of ground but one thing under-emphasized was Israel. Probably because of his language skills Baer was posted there and got to look around.

      Now tell us, where on earth is there greater danger of terrorism than Israel? Here? They laugh at us. Does Israel use torture to get intel?

      Watch the interview. They don't.

      They think it's stupid to do so.

      Real Time: Bob Baer on Waterboarding- It's Torture

      http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/real-time-bob-baer-waterboarding-its...

      Why did we have to resort to torture? It's in the Senate's Levin\McCain report.

      Bush officials had to prove that Saddam and Al Quaeda were working together to justify Iraq's invasion, under the Geneva Conventions and under US Law.

      So they ordered torture.

      http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf

      http://rinf.com/alt-news/war-terrorism/torture-orders-came-from-the-top/5448/

    • 3 years ago
  • Conniepae
  • MotherForTruth
  • MotherForTruth
    • 0
      MotherForTruth  

    • "I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country," she said.
      Is being "terrified" justifies the wrong doing? Here we go again Who is a bigger victim!

    • 3 years ago
  • masliko
  • cerealforeal
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  

    • And she was SO CLOSE to telling the truth, too. If only she had stopped at "President George W. Bush assured his Administration that we would do nothing, NOTHING...," I think that might have satisfied the Grand Jury that will soon be considering her indictment.

      Equally important, however, is the fact that she did not answer the question. "Did the Bush Administration commit crimes?" Response: "The Presdent said we wouldn't." The follow-up we didn't get to hear: "Well, of COURSE he said you wouldn't, lady, I'm asking whether you DID..."

    • 3 years ago
  • kcolvin
  • asherp
    • 0
      asherp  

    • "What you have to understand, is we were terrified that we might drop the ball while on vacation at the Crawford Ranch, and let another terrorist attack happen, delay investigations for over a year, and then have a farse comission that doesn't actually look at what really happened, where the money came from, etc, and then utilize the ensuing shock and terror that populace is in to push all the anti-democratic bills through congress that help create a police state that we couldn't get through before, and then start two unjustified wars and occupations that would kill thousands of troops and millions of Arabs. It's just so much work.

      You understand we had to use torture on these prisoners to prevent us from doing that to you again. I mean, uh, the USA doesn't torture."

    • 3 years ago
  • AveryMoore
  • brmarris
    • 0
      brmarris  

    • i wasn't scared of another attack neither was the rest of america. we knew it wouldnt happen again. it doesnt justify interrogation

    • 3 years ago
  • nursediesel
  • el_chivo
  • bluestranger
  • Varex_Sythe
  • nursediesel
  • Varex_Sythe
  • eldamon
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  
    • eldamon:

      She spoke the truth in her scenario.
      Just like, Bill, "it depends on what you mean by no!"
      He thought he was being honest. What Monika did to him wasn't sex!
      Do you realize how many el.em.and jr. high/middle school girls started giving **** after his statement.
      It's all relevant, isn't it.

    • 3 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  
    • eldamon:

      nursediesel,

      Have you lost your mind or are you just trying to get the conversation going? You can't possibly believe a freakin' blow job equates to torturing in any way shape or form. Clearly you must be doing it wrong if you do. Is there any way Bill's conduct could be construed as a crime against humanity? Did he break federal, constitutional &/or international law, including several treaties? Let's try to keep things in perspective here, shall we?

    • 3 years ago
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  
    • eldamon:

      No, I used this example in extreme to show what different people construe as the truth... My dictionary says any contact of another persons genitalia is sex. But Mr. President thought it wasn't.
      I don't know if Condaleesa Rice broke any laws or treaties because I haven't read all the details all of them.
      I do believe Mr. Clinton lied under oath and abused his power as President to cull sexual favors. (Yes, even IF Monika initiated the act he as the adult in control should have had some restaint over himself and said no. She's close to the same age as his daughter.)
      Yes, I know our generation believed in 'free love' and "if it feels good, do it" but we all finally grow up after we have families, well usually.....

    • 3 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  
    • eldamon:

      So what you're saying is you were more offended and concerned about Bill's sex life than you are about whether your leaders committed crimes against humanity on a scale not seen since Nazi Germany? Is that truly the argument you're attempting to make? Yes, Bill lied about a blow job. Condi, George et al lied us into a war after ignoring information that may have prevented the 9/11 attacks. Roughly 10,000 Americans lives were lost as a direct action or indifferent lack of action of the Bush administration. Easily ten times that or 100,000 lives were ended by the Bush administration when you consider Iraqi and Afghanistan casualties as a whole. To top it all off they blatantly violate Constitutional and international law under the false pretense of keeping America safe and with all that you counter with Bill Clinton's lying about a blow job. Do you see the disparity of your argument now?

    • 3 years ago
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  
    • eldamon:

      No, that's not what I'm saying. What caused the war was a series of events none of us may ever fully understand. It was a culmination of false information on many sides.
      None of us ordinary people will ever be able to understand the pressures of all the info a president is faced with.
      I chose the incident regarding Bill and Monika because it is a logical easy decision to make, it doesn't directly change the world by saying 'no'.it just stops the act between two people.
      Besides we know what happened to Bill DID happen, we DO NOT know if any laws or treaties have been broken by any of the Bush administration. It has yet to be proven.
      All we know are only allegations.

    • 3 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  
    • eldamon:

      What caused the war is obvious. We attacked a sovereign nation that was complying with UN inspections as ordered. Inspections that found no weapons that would pose any threat to the United States what so ever. The Bush administration used corrupted data and ginned up patriotism to launch a costly ineffective unnecessary war. That is not in dispute on any level.

      Mean while, to cover their asses they tried to torture justification for their actions out of people they unlawfully detained. Again, we know these men were detained and water boarded among other things by the administrations own admissions. While doing all this your government was illegally wire tapping our communications - another fact not subject to debate. Where do you find the wiggle room to not see these individuals as the criminals they are?

      Water boarding is torture. The administration admits to water boarding. Torture is illegal under federal and international law, ergo your boys are guilty as charged.

      Monitoring US communications without court ordered warrants is illegal under Constitutional law. The Bush administration monitored US communications again by their own admission. Again, guilty as charged.

    • 3 years ago
  • jahbini
  • ras_menelik
  • nursediesel
  • mario_a
    • 0
      mario_a  

    • hey current89,

      kudos, this story is being featured in 'current stories' on the homepage. tell your friends!

      mario
      online community

    • 3 years ago
  • asherp
  • lordsbassman
  • huntre
  • kennymotown
more from Community:
from the community

top videos