Fox News military analyst says torture is effective because it worked on 'Songbird' John McCain

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: Business Insider

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney appeared on Fox Business on Thursday and defended the use of torture by claiming it worked on Sen. John McCain when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam War.

McCain's experiences during the war are broadly seen as a large part of the reason he has opposed President Donald Trump's controversial nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, who has refused to denounce torture as immoral.

When asked about McCain's position on this issue by Fox Business host Charles Payne, McInerney said, "The fact is, is John McCain — [torture] worked on John. That's why they call him 'Songbird John.'"

On Thursday afternoon, Payne issued an apology to McCain, stating that as a "proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet," McInerney's words did not "reflect my or the network's feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-military-analyst-torture-worked-on-john-mccain-2018-5

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I'm not a fan of McCain, but Fox network is quite a cesspool of low life slimeballs.

[dembotoz]

1. guess we are on the same moral plane as isis....good to know

[olegramps]

31. Republicans don't have an iota of shame in their filthy rotten souls. They are consumed with hatred.

The top echelon of the military is virtually dominated solely with right wing war mongers. McInerney is just another prime example of the product of military academies that produce these mindless zombies who only response is "War good, Peace bad for our business. They sound like the pigs in Animal Farm, Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad. Republicans, Good, Democrats Bad. If they didn't have seriously stilted and warped intellect, the wouldn't any intellect.

[dembotoz]

32. yep

[bronxiteforever]

2. Kick and recommend for visibility

[rurallib]

3. Scorched earth for anything in their path

fucking scumbags of humanity.

I am no fan of McCain's either, but this is as low as they can go.
McCain should totally;;y lock Republicans and Fox from his funeral.

[Hortensis]

40. Yup and exactly.

[erpowers]

4. Any Proof

Is there any proof that supports the idea that John McCain gave up information after being tortured? I heard he was given a chance to leave the prison camp early and refused because they were not offering to release his fellow prisoners. Were the Vietnamese willing to let McCain go because he gave information?

[Shipwack]

7. McCain's grandfather was an Admiral

His grandfather (from what I understand) had a bit of prestige. This is probably how McCain got through the Naval Academy and flight school despite being mediocre (at best).

That being said, when he was shot down and imprisoned, he had to rely on himself, perhaps for the first time in his life. While he was a POW, he was given the opportunity to be released from captivity. His captors knew who he was, and wanted to use him as a bargaining chip, I guess. Since military guidelines state that only the person in captivity longest can accept release, McCain refused, consigning himself to continue being tortured.

I have many problems with Senator John McCain. But I do have the utmost respect for how he conducted himself while a POW. The “man” that Fox had on is a POS, and a disgrace to his uniform.

As for breaking under torture... I’m fine with that. We were taught that almost everyone eventually breaks, and there is no shame in that, as long as you held out as long as you could. I have heard snide shadowy whispers (from his fellow conservatives) that he gave up useful information, but nothing provable.

[mtngirl47]

17. Both his father and grandfather were 4 star Admirals n/t

[greyl]

19. No, it's bullshit that was floating around Twitter this morning, though. nt

[justgamma]

20. I thought I read that he gave up

the names of a football team when tortured.

[DesertRat]

5. Politifact rated the "songbird" claim as Pants On Fire

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jan/17/vietnam-veterans-against-john-mccain/no-evidence-mccain-was-a-traitor/

[JDC]

6. The party of "Support the Troops!"

[onecent]

8. This is one of the MOST DISRESPECTFUL THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN.

FOX, GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND BE RESPECTFUL OF SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T HAVE MUCH TIME ON THIS EARTH.
Dipshits.

[mn9driver]

9. A distinguished military vet that isn't part of the right wing machine must always be discredited.

It causes cognitive dissonance amongst the base to imagine that a “real” vet might not think in hate lockstep with them.

They did it to John Kerry as well.

[Turbineguy]

10. You're a fucking retired General, dude...

why go on Fox and make a fool of yourself?

[Archae]

11. I heard of guys like that retired general.

Safe and secure behind his armored desk.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

39. What we called in Vietnam a "REMF"

Rear Echelon Mother Fucker.

[Puppyjive]

12. Karma

I believe in Karma and it will come to roost at FOX soon enough.

[Soxfan58]

29. I use to

Not anymore. Not after Nov. 2016

[RVN VET71]

13. A seeker for the limelight is this ex-General, and

a man devoid of honor and decency. He shames himself, the military, and all Americans who thought that we had grown beyond giving license to sadism.

A disgraceful declamation by a disgraceful human being.

He calls McCain a "songbird?" How about we call McInerney an "old turd"?

[mainer]

14. I'll always remember McCain's words on Obama.

In response to some racist woman GOP supporter who called Obama an A-rab. McCain proved, in that moment when a lesser man would have just shrugged and agreed, that he has a true moral compass. He defended Obama as a "good American."

It matters not that I disagree with his politics. He is what true Americans should be.

[D_Master81]

36. my how far the GOP fell

Cant imagine Trump ever standing up to 1 of his deplorables. Shouldve seen what was coming in 2008.

[SunSeeker]

15. K & R for exposure of deplorables. nt

[Augiedog]

16. Swiftboating McCain, seems kinda like they are eating their own, and choking.

[LiberalLovinLug]

18. guys guys. Nothing to get upset about here.

Didn't you hear that HE APOLOGIZED!?

That proves he didn't really mean it when he said it. (Even though he was 100% right!). And his apology also means that it was like it never happened. Cancels it out, so you libs look really stupid still talking about nothing. ha ha ha. morans.
Oh and all the crap we don't apologize for is all just a bunch of jokes. Which your libtard brains just don't get. Ha Ha Ha.

- some deplorable somewhere

[murielm99]

21. In 2008, we ran

a viable Congressional candidate in my bright red district. He did not win, but we brought a lot of people into the voting process.

We met a retired colonel who claimed to have been a fellow POW with McCain. He described McCain and brave, tough and defiant. This colonel voted a straight Democratic ticket, except for McCain.

I am sick of seeing all this disrespect for a former POW and member of our military. My politics are nothing like McCain's, but the man served his country and now he is dying. There is no low too low for these people.

[Hekate]

22. Absolutely anyone who gets in the RW's way will be destroyed, especially military heroes and...

...Gold Star families. No sneer too petty, no lie too great.

Trump and Trumpists have no honor, no patriotism, no heart.

[olddad56]

23. I forgot, how many deferments did our brave President get? wasn't 5?

[gopiscrap]

24. to paraphrase Joe Welch:

"Have you no sense of decency?"

[gopiscrap]

25. McCain's family should sue Fox and the General

for slander and defamation and the Republican Party for fostering a culture to allow it to happen unchecked

[Raine]

26. Sure most people will "sing" if they're being tortured but

are they "singing" out anything of value or just "singing" anything to get the torture to stop? Innocent people were named during the Inquisition and other times too, the tortured person just wanted the pain to stop!

[Mopar151]

30. Kaleed Sheikh Muhammad

"Gave up" terror networks that never existed. You have to tell the torturers what they want to hear. The truth may do the subject no good at all.

[duforsure]

27. They never have proof of their claims,

And its been shown they're false. Also torture is a crime, a war crime, and can be prosecuted.

[riversedge]

28. FactCheck--'Songbird John' McCain? No evidence McCain helped enemy in Vietnam PANTS ON FIRE..

FactCheck--'Songbird John' McCain? No evidence McCain helped enemy in Vietnam http://www.politifact.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jan/17/vietnam-veterans-against-john-mccain/no-evidence-mccain-was-a-traitor/





Says McCain was a "Hanoi Hilton songbird" who collaborated with the enemy.

— Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 in a flyer sent to news organizations in South Carolina

'Songbird John' McCain? No evidence McCain helped enemy in Vietnam

By Shawn Zeller on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 12:00 a.m.

In an echo of the attacks from the 2000 South Carolina primary that dealt a critical blow to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, a new flyer says the Arizona senator is a traitor.

It says that when he was a POW, McCain was a "Hanoi Hilton songbird" who collaborated with the enemy.

But it provides scant evidence to back up this claim and it is strongly contradicted by many other accounts reviewed by PolitiFact: interviews with other POWs, an author who has written a McCain biography and the senator's own accounts.

You may not realize this, but as a nonprofit news organization, we depend on — and answer to — you. Your support directly impacts our abilility to provide objective reporting on issues that matter.

Donate to our Spring Campaign. Go on the record as saying facts matter!

Robert Timberg, author of John McCain: An American Odyssey , who has interviewed many POWs who served with McCain, said there's no evidence that he ever collaborated with the North Vietnamese. "I've never known of any occasion in which Sen. McCain provided the North Vietnamese with anything of value," Timberg said................


.........Because of the seriousness of the charge, the utter absence of evidence and the clear intention to harm McCain just days before a critical Republican primary, we find this claim to be Pants on Fire wrong.



https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-mccain-war-crimes/

[Chemisse]

33. That's disgusting - and cruel to do to someone who is very sick.

And Fox's 'sorry, not sorry' is meaningless.

[Firestorm49]

34. What a totally despicable comment.

Put this horse’s ass in a box and torture him daily for five years. In this case I would show no sympathy. His comment reflects the destructive dialog that Republicans just can’t seem to relinquish, and for that, there should be no mercy. What a jerk.

[sarge43]

35. A shame retirees can't be pulled back on active duty solely for disciplinary action

Last edited Sat May 12, 2018, 06:50 AM - Edit history (1)

This creep deserves a guest of honor invite to a court martial for publicly slandering a fellow officer and POW without cause or evidence.

[D_Master81]

37. who was calling him "songbird john"?

before Trump no one labeled people w/ these idiotic nicknames. who was out there calling him "songbird john" 40 years ago?

[DoctorJoJo]

38. This McInerny Is a Vile Cretin With No Shame Bringing This Up, But Not Totally Wrong

McCain wrote about his torture in his 1999 book. He WAS broken by extreme torture, and was terribly shamed by it. It is a rare human that could not be broken. Trump, for example, would spill the beans if deprived of his Diet Coke!

[Sunlei]

42. so what secrets did he spill??? all POWs were maltreated! he had opportunities to go

home early because his Dad was top brass- yet he stayed years longer.

Republicans had this McInerny on their fox-TV specifically to attack a POW veteran with brain cancer. probably got this cancer from exposure to jet fuel.

[Sunlei]

41. RepublicansTV spreads Vet-hate & then pretty face desk jockey #36b 'apologies'

I hope McCain is in the 1% and survives the brain cancer beast-outlives all those Republicans, including their President.

[irisblue]

43. why is this guy hired any where? From his wiki page

Post military career

2002, he said a military campaign against Iraq, would be "shorter" than the 42 days it took to complete the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and further, "It is going to be absolutely awesome, and that's why this war, if we do it properly, will go very quick, and we'll have less civilian casualties than we did last time."

In 2004, he claimed that with the aid of Russians, Saddam had transported WMDs and millions to Syria for safekeeping. Although McInernery said they had been moved to three places in Syria and one in Lebanon, the final report of the Iraq Survey Group, by Charles A. Duelfer, special adviser on Iraqi weapons to the C.I.A., concluded that any stockpiles had been destroyed long before the war and that transfers to Syria were "unlikely."

In 2006, McInerney advocated for regime change via military action against Iran and North Korea...
...
In 2015 as a Fox News contributor, and a member of the Iran Policy Committee. McInerney was noted for insisting on Fox News that terrorists had flown the disappeared Malaysia Airlines 370 to Pakistan; that later turned out to be a conspiracy theory."

This guy has significant cognitive dysfunction.

[Sunlei]

44. because he will lie for Republicans fox-lies TV (as long as he's paid $$$)

No Republican liar works for free or out of the "goodness of their tiny dark hearts"