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Recursion

(56,582 posts)

8. No, I call bullshit there on both counts.

Reply to NewDeal_Dem (Reply #1)

Thu Dec 11, 2014, 03:40 AM

Dec 2014

The general public knew perfectly well, as witnessed by the number of stand up comedians who made jokes about torture during that period (stand-up is a pretty good barometer of what the public is and isn't aware of).

The lower-level grunts tortured because someone told them to, that's all. Following orders

Sorry, no. 7 years in the Marine Corps here and I knew the difference between a legal and illegal order.

If the alleged set-up is that an asset was told "torture this prisoner or we'll shoot you in the head" that's one thing, but that's not what happened. What happened was "torture this prisoner and we'll triple your daily base pay".

Torture does not need defenders, NewDeal_Dem. It has plenty of those already.

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Millman: Why did we torture? [View all] Recursion Dec 2014 OP

I don't think the general public can know 'why' 'we' tortured because the general public doesn't NewDeal_Dem Dec 2014 #1

Following orders was not accepted as an excuse at the Nuremberg Trials. sabrina 1 Dec 2014 #4

well said! marions ghost Dec 2014 #7

Excellent post malaise Dec 2014 #11

That might fly if it was anyone except low level non officers being punished, which was the case NewDeal_Dem Dec 2014 #12

Following illegal orders is itself a crime. Educate yourself. WinkyDink Dec 2014 #6

I don't need to educate myself. "if the order was illegal" being the sticking point. It's been a NewDeal_Dem Dec 2014 #9

"A long time since Nuremburg"? Oh, my, my, my. When such is said about living memory, what happens WinkyDink Dec 2014 #14

You don't seem to have heard me. I'd be very happy if the Bush gang were NewDeal_Dem Dec 2014 #17

Wow, I hope this is high-level satire Recursion Dec 2014 #16

No, I call bullshit there on both counts. Recursion Dec 2014 #8

The first most people had an inkling was Abu Ghraib. For which only a few low-level peons got NewDeal_Dem Dec 2014 #10

I thought the last paragraph was applegrove Dec 2014 #2

That's an interesting point. I hadn't looked at it that way (nt) Recursion Dec 2014 #3

Because we were led by treasonous psychopaths? WinkyDink Dec 2014 #5

People were angry. "The gloves were off". bhikkhu Dec 2014 #13

We were/are torturing for profit, in the service of multinational corporations. Zorra Dec 2014 #15