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WRITTEN BY SIMON MALOY
PUBLISHED 03/16/18 2:11 PM EDT
Gina Haspel’s nomination to be director of the CIA has reinvigorated the long-simmering controversy over the George W. Bush administration’s decision to turn America into a torture state. Haspel, who oversaw the torture of one detainee at a CIA black site in 2002 and later engineered the destruction of videotaped evidence of torture, is being held up as a hero by conservative pundits who celebrate her “toughness.”
One of those pundits, Fox News’ Sean Hannity, has spent the past week defending Haspel and advocating for the torture techniques she implemented. “We can't have evil exist in this world without doing something to counter it,” he said on his March 13 show. “And if it means that terrorists caught on the battlefield are forced to answer questions, well, sadly that’s what you have to do because you are dealing with evil.”
This line of argument resurrects an issue related to the torture controversy that has remained conspicuously unresolved for nearly a decade: Sean Hannity promised to be waterboarded but still hasn’t done it.
Hannity has long been an advocate for torture, and one of his more curious pro-torture strategies is to dismiss its unpleasantness while simultaneously lauding its effectiveness. Back in April 2009, while speaking to actor Charles Grodin on his Fox News show, Hannity said: “Is it really so bad to dunk a terrorist's head in water and make him talk? Tell me what's wrong with that.” Later in the program, the two had this exchange:
CHARLES GRODIN: Have you ever been waterboarded?
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): No, but Ollie North has and I've talked to him about it.
GRODIN: And how -- would you consent to be waterboarded?
HANNITY: Yes.
GRODIN: So we could get the truth out of you?
HANNITY: Yes. Sure.
GRODIN: We can waterboard you?
HANNITY: Sure.
GRODIN: Are you busy on Sunday?
HANNITY: I'll do it for charity. I'll let you do it.
GRODIN: I wouldn't do it.
HANNITY: I'll do it for the troops' families.
One of those pundits, Fox News’ Sean Hannity, has spent the past week defending Haspel and advocating for the torture techniques she implemented. “We can't have evil exist in this world without doing something to counter it,” he said on his March 13 show. “And if it means that terrorists caught on the battlefield are forced to answer questions, well, sadly that’s what you have to do because you are dealing with evil.”
This line of argument resurrects an issue related to the torture controversy that has remained conspicuously unresolved for nearly a decade: Sean Hannity promised to be waterboarded but still hasn’t done it.
Hannity has long been an advocate for torture, and one of his more curious pro-torture strategies is to dismiss its unpleasantness while simultaneously lauding its effectiveness. Back in April 2009, while speaking to actor Charles Grodin on his Fox News show, Hannity said: “Is it really so bad to dunk a terrorist's head in water and make him talk? Tell me what's wrong with that.” Later in the program, the two had this exchange:
CHARLES GRODIN: Have you ever been waterboarded?
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): No, but Ollie North has and I've talked to him about it.
GRODIN: And how -- would you consent to be waterboarded?
HANNITY: Yes.
GRODIN: So we could get the truth out of you?
HANNITY: Yes. Sure.
GRODIN: We can waterboard you?
HANNITY: Sure.
GRODIN: Are you busy on Sunday?
HANNITY: I'll do it for charity. I'll let you do it.
GRODIN: I wouldn't do it.
HANNITY: I'll do it for the troops' families.
Read more: https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/torture-fan-sean-hannity-still-hasnt-been-waterboarded-he-promised
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