Thinking of Americans, generally - how do you think most of them feel about the torture report?

[Algernon Moncrieff]

7. I don't know that it's a majority viewpoint, but it's a sizable group

There is a group of Americans, principally upwards of 45 (and I'm not saying here on DU) who simply equate the word "Muslim" with the word "terrorist." It's not just 9-11, but events going back to 70's hijackings, the Iranian hostage crisis, the Lebanese barracks bombing, the Achille Lauro, the Kohl, as well as post-9-11 events. This group doesn't want to hear/won't listen to talk that these acts represent isolated extremists. Instead, they believe that Islam is a religion fixated on destroying America, and that any action used against them is justified. Like you, I'm not endorsing that attitude or judging it, for that matter- merely pointing out that it's there.

I think there's another larger group that, to a great extent, intersects with the above group, but has a larger age spread. This group is what I like to think of as the "everything I know about international relations I learned from The Godfather" group. This group believes that the report shows nothing new, and that like Nixon in Watergate, Bush's only issue with torture is that he got caught. "We've always done this," members of this group will argue, " because the only way you can deal with these people is to be more violent, more brutal, and to make offers that they can't refuse." Members of this group will point to the actions of ISIS, and assert that anyone who doesn't get behind killing and torture to combat this is weak and naïve. Again, I'm not endorsing that attitude or judging it, for that matter- merely pointing out that it's there.