Announcing that he's "going down to Guantánamo Bay," O'Reilly mocked concerns over torture techniques
SUMMARY: While announcing that he is "going down to Guantánamo Bay on Friday" to become "the first journalist ... to interrogate the interrogators" there, Bill O'Reilly mocked concerns about the use of torture techniques in interrogations. O'Reilly declared that according to "the far-left press," "[d]egrading treatment" could consist of "mocking the guy's turban" and "torture" could be merely "call[ing] a guy a name."
While announcing that he is "going down to Guantánamo Bay on Friday" to become "the first journalist ... to interrogate the interrogators" there, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly mocked concerns about the use of torture techniques in interrogations. O'Reilly declared that according to "the far-left press," "[d]egrading treatment" could consist of "mocking the guy's turban" and "torture" could be merely "call[ing] a guy a name." O'Reilly's comments came on the June 6 edition of The O'Reilly Factor during a discussion with Fox News military analyst Bill Cowan, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Eric L. Haney. They were discussing the Pentagon's reported plan to remove from the Army Field Manual a Geneva Convention stipulation banning "humiliating and degrading treatment."
From the June 6 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Well, certainly the far-left press believes that any kind of coerced interrogation is torture. That's what they believe.
Degrading treatment, for example. Degrading treatment, which could be anything. It could be mocking the guy's turban. It could be anything. OK? Some people say that's torture.
So I'm trying to figure out here what's best for the nation, rather than what's best in theory. So Colonel's [Cowan] on the record saying we need harsher measures. And you're on the record saying what, Sergeant Major?
HANEY: I am saying that we need to adhere to the law as we know it now. All professional interrogators have the proper techniques. They know what works. They know what doesn't work. And they know what's counterproductive. And you've never heard any of those people from the professional community coming out and saying, "This is the way we should do things." I've heard a lot to the contrary.
O'REILLY: No, I -- the head of the Bagram [Afghanistan] interrogators in the Army said coerced interrogation worked for him. And I think Colonel Cowan, at times, has said coerced interrogation has been effective as well. Have you not, Colonel?
COWAN: It has Bill, that's right. And I don't, by any means, call for torture or really inhumane or cruel treatment to everybody in the world. But there are some people we're going to catch out here in the global war on terror that we need to be able to put some tough standards to. And as we're suggesting here -- the problem is, while this debate is going on about a manual, we really need to have some kind of very specific laws written by Congress that tell us what we can or can't do.
But they should never be too restrictive. What's restrictive in the field manual right now -- the basic disagreement is this, these words, "humiliating and degrading treatment."
O'REILLY: Right, humiliating and degrading. You know.
COWAN: Handcuffs or blindfold could be considered humiliating.
O'REILLY: Absolutely. The Human Rights Watch, if they [interrogators] call a guy a name, that's, you know, torture. So that's the problem that we have right now.
HANEY: I think that becomes a spurious argument because the troops in the field and the professionals know the difference.
O'REILLY: And you know what?
HANEY: And that's when you cross the line.
O'REILLY: And you know what, Sergeant Major? I'm going down to Guantánamo Bay on Friday. And I'll be the first journalist, I believe, to interrogate the interrogators down there.
HANEY: I believe you will be.
O'REILLY: And I'm going to ask them.
COWAN: Bill, I've been there, and you'll be surprised.
O'REILLY: And I'm going to ask them.
COWAN: You'll come back happy. I've been there, Bill. You'll come back amazed at what you learn.
O'REILLY: All right.
COWAN: And when you see how well we've treated those prisoners.
O'REILLY: Well, we'll have that on Monday. And I'm pleased to have that opportunity.
Gentlemen, thanks very much. We appreciate it.
I'm sure it will be informative!
... will be "informative"?
If so, then the POLICE could take a page for BillO's intrepid investigator handbook.
Before conducting a raid on a suspected crackhouse, or meth lab, the cops should call ahead and warn the guys that they're on the way. That way, the drug dealers will have a chance to clean up a bit and have a tray of tea and cookies ready for the SWAT team.
Yeah, this is a GREAT way to get at "the TRUTH".
And, a real news program ... could merely be The Factor.
Maybe Billy-O will get to sample some of the fun and games first hand.
Bill-O's finally going to leave the sanctity of his studio and go into the real world . . . and if there's any justice in this world, we will soon be treated to photos of a naked, blindfolded, and gagged O'Reilly on top of a human pyramid while a grinning guard stands next to him holding a loofah . . .
Conservatives are trying to convince us that our government does not have to adhere to international torture laws or our own torture laws. Also they argue for the necessity of torture and the benefits of it.
Then they turn around and say that torture is not occuring.
Why argue for government allowing torture if supposedly the government never allowed torture and no torture has been conducted in Gitmo?
How would you even know whether our torture has helped us stop terrorists if no prisoners have ever been tortured?
Because scheduled interviews with the guards and administrators are going to be absolutely enlightening. Yep. I believe that. *rolls eyes*
Sorry, Bill, but you need to dig deeper than that to get an accurate picture of conditions there.
Dear Bill,
How about going to Iraq? After all, you’ve “been in combat”, right?
Here’s some ideas for your itinerary while you’re there:
Go out on a patrol with some Marines. Be sure to request a trip down what the locals have dubbed “Death Road”.
Ride shotgun with one of the contracted helmet-and-flackjacket-wearing truck drivers who resupply our troops with new Humvees to replace the ones that were blown to smithereens by IED’s.
While you’re there, ask the military to take you to see the success stories of Iraq (new schools, reactivated power stations, etc.) so you can “report the good news”. Doh! That’s right, I almost forgot, the military doesn’t want you to report those success stories out of fear that insurgents will target them, so scratch this one.
Ask some of the soldiers how much money they are making. Then go ask some of the contractors who are doing the same jobs how much they make.
I’m sure you’ll have all kinds of good news to bring back with you. I’m looking forward to your report, Bill. Have a nice trip.
Sincerely,
The American Taxpayer
Journalist? Who are you kidding, Bill?
Singing a screwed-up version of James Taylor's "Mexico", I'll mock O'Reilly's "going down to Guantánamo Bay"...
Woh, Guantánamo, it sounds so simple, I just got to go.
The torture's so much fun I forgot to go home...
guess I'll have to go now.
"Gitmo detainee" got the sleepy eye
but his body's still shaking like a live wire.
Sleepless detainee with the eyes on fire.
Woh, Guantánamo. It sounds so sweet with the torture that they know.
Spin's so bright, like to light up the night,
make everything all right.
Bush's hurtin' and the money's all gone.
The folks back home don't want to talk on the phone.
He gets a long letter, sends back a postcard, times are hard.
Woh, down in Guantánamo,
I never really been so I don't really know.
And oh, Guantánamo, I guess I'll have to go.
Woh, Guantánamo,
I never really been so I don't really know.
And oh, Guantánamo, I guess I'll have to go now.
Talking bout Guantánamo.
Big ol' Head down in Guantánamo.
[link to www.lyricsmania.com]
After avoiding the military for the last thirty seven years, you finally get to go near a military base. How proud you must be. I'm sure there'll be plenty of pictures taken. Maybe you could bring along a few Fox Security Thugs to show them how it's supposed to be done.
You, and especially these hired ex-military lackeys that you parade across the airwaves should be ashamed of yourselves. You and they are condoning behavior that for generations has been considered un-American. The only reasons that I can think of for why some today are for this kind of treatment of prisoners is revenge, sadism and the need to dominate someone weaker than them.
The people on the other end of the stick have very little information to give, so why bother using extreme measures to get it. Try to see it from the other side. If one of our PFCs was captured and subjected to this, what in God's name could he tell his captors? Name, rank, serial number? That's about all of the information anyone would have to give. Tactical info and strategy are not shared with the grunts. They're told to do a job and they don't ask questions, and they don't have any information that would help an enemy.
If O'Reilly or any of the other people pushing this cause were in the military, they'd know this. They'd also know that the kind of behavior they're defending will come around and kill Americans in the long run.
unfortunately,from my first-hand experience, a lot of people don't get it. I was never in the military, but have always understood that the rules of war are not just to protect enemy soldiers (which is reason enough, as they're mostly kids thrown into war by others, just like ours), but to protect our own.
We still set the standard for conduct. Even with the hits America's image has taken in the last few years,we are THE superpower, and we still have some residual respect from our history as a leader in human rights.
I've even talked to ex-military people who were outraged at restrictions on how we treat prisoners of war/detainees.I'm amazed that those who have actually been there, even if not in combat,sometimes don't appreciate that our actions in war give the green light to the other side, and put our guys in danger.
I'm not saying I'm naive enough to think that any group we have a conflict with is going to abide by our rules. The important thing is that we stick to them, otherwise any chance at the moral high ground is p*ssed away.
Can you imagine if this gang we've got in the white house now were running the show in WWII? Aside from the fact that we would have attacked Switzerland or someplace else where German is spoken, the Nuremberg trials would have been plea-bargained to avoid countersuits. Har!
a mental case draft- avoider interrogating military interrogators. this ought to be fun when the microphones are turned off.
- A fast trip in sanitized conditions.
- Pseudo-proof of "what really happens there".
- A way to help the F@# viewers comfortably forget the big picture: Who cares why those people are interned, and for how long, as long as it looks like we otherwise treat them better than terroris' should be treated?
O'REILLY: Right, humiliating and degrading. You know. Well, yes, they know first hand, they watch your show.
O'REILLY: Why does the wacko left wing media hate you?
TORTURE EXPERT: I don't know. I'm just doing my job.
O'REILLY: Look, you seem like a great guy. Why would anyone think you're up to no good?
TORTURE EXPERT: I think they hate America and want the terrorists to win.
I remember listening to his radio show a few months back,and he was railing about Gitmo being a non-story and that most americans did not care about the story.It was the evil media fault ,because they ran too many stories about it.Now he's going there to do a story on it.Flip....FLOP!
After returning he will be an expert on interrogations.
O'REILLY: "Absolutely. The Human Rights Watch, if they [interrogators] call a guy a name, that's, you know, torture. So that's the problem that we have right now."
The problem we have now is that our administration wants to draw the line at *organ failure*.
Hell no we won't! He will come back reporting that everything is hunky dorry. Just to prove it, he will show a typical gourmet feast tray, a tidy cell, plenty of Korans to read, clean clothing, nice showering facilities, topped off with interviews with fully prepared folks to support his point of view. Then he will put all this up on national truth as the God's truth as to how things are going at gitmo! In a similar manner, when the generals were calling for Herr Rumsfeld's resignation, they paraded generals and others to say that the generals had no right to tell their side of the story. If that is true, pray tell why is it fair for Fox to parade, every day, that group of retired generals, most of which have never been to Iraq, testifying that everything is going just fine in Iraq? Seems like Fox believes the people should believe what THEY present as the truth, rather than the hundreds of other reports coming out of that war!
Bill O'Reilly at Gitmo, three detainees dead! hhhmmmm...