Rep. Dana Rohrabacher won't "apologize that someone put panties on the head of this 9/11 terrorist"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/05/rep-rohrabacher-on-using_n_105553.html

WASHINGTON — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher on Wednesday dismissed the idea that taunting terrorism suspects with women's panties is a form of torture.

In a debate about detainee treatment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the California Republican cited panties eight times, arguing that making suspected terrorists wear women's underwear on their heads isn't demeaning and degrading enough to be called torture.

"You're suggesting that the behavior of, what, panties on his head ... is unacceptable interrogation technique for a man who was involved in a conspiracy to kill tens of thousands of Americans?" Rohrabacher asked during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Rohrabacher was taking issue with FBI complaints about inappropriate and potentially illegal tactics used to get al-Qaida detainees to talk in the years following the Sept. 11 attacks. He said interrogation-by-panties was more akin to a "hazing pranks from some fraternity," not torture.

Some interrogation tactics used _ even if not torture _ might not be pleasant, Rohrabacher said. "I mean, OK, describing his mother and sister as whores, that's certainly not a nice thing to do," he said.

An exasperated Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., reminded Rohrabacher that interrogators were also seen physically abusing detainees.

"This isn't about panties on the head," Delahunt said. "This is about physical pressure, waterboarding and other techniques that apparently were utilized at Guantanamo."

Rohrabacher made a final point.

"I, in no way, will ever apologize that someone put panties on the head of this 9/11 terrorist and treated him without respect," he said. "That man should have no respect."

[eleny]

1. He ought to apologize for wearing that asshat

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Barney Rubble goes to congress.

"That man should have no respect."

[pretzel4gore]

3. Jesus Christ....

the pharisees/sanhedrin said roughly same thing about Christ...

[Hydra]

4. I wish the people with R's after their names sounded as stupid

To their supporters as they do to us.

On another note, why are we paying the CIA to crossdress random people and torture them?

[Monk06]

5. Is it just a coincidence that so many RW'ers have German names: Rove, Rumsfeld, Bohner etc n/t

[Virginia Dare]

6. Is there a bigger ass in the U.S Congress?

it confounds me how dopes like him make it to national office.

[SpiralHawk]

7. "Why should I? We repulicons are into diaper sex with hookers." - Rhorabacher

"So panties on the head looks like hot fun to us. You lib-ruls need to take a Wide Stance on this, like republicons." - Rhoabacher (R- of course)

[Bluebear]

8. Ooooh is that the terrorist pictured? He looks too dopey to plot toilet papering a house.

;)

[ProgressiveFool]

9. To a republican, that's not torture, it's foreplay /nt

[lolly]

10. Hmm--can you see both his hands?

He sure likes to say "panties" a lot, doesn't he?

[Hekate]

11. He ought to apologize to all the women in the US military for that nasty tactic

He and his ilk fail to recognize how the Abu Ghraib torture tactics degraded our military women as much as the male prisoners. Thanks a bunch, *holes.

Hekate

[Ghost in the Machine]

12. If they were Ann Coulter's panties, it'd definitely be torture...very inhumane

Heather Locklear's? eh... you'd have to fight me to get 'em back..

(I know, I'm a pig)

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. Rep Rohrbacher, perhaps we should see if the panties come in your hat size.

And while you're in the fraternity prank chair, perhaps you might like to sample some of the other hijinks that the CIA has in their bag of shenanigans.

[warren pease]

14. Know what I still can't quite believe? Fine. I'll tell you anyway.

I can't believe that we're in the 21st century, older and supposedly wiser, and living in a country that's debating which kinds of torture are OK and which are not.

You'd think that "enhanced interrogation techniques," including those practiced by Torquemada and the Inquisition back in the 15th century, would be universally condemned even in this bizarre country.

I suppose torture IS almost universally condemned. Official disgust and public revulsion for US torture practices are the standard reactions everywhere except here and among our torture outsourcing partners, vacation spots like Uzbekistan, China, Egypt, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Israel, Uganda, Turkey, Syria, Morocco and a few more.

These hellholes are among the destinations for the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" flights. All expenses paid, courtesy of a new, improved "Air America," the CIA's own black budget airline, complete with a few front companies to preserve the illusion of legitimacy.

In keeping with Air America traditions, the planes are usually stuffed with tons of high-value illegal drugs -- cocaine and heroin the most common -- for the flights back to the US. The CIA's distribution network takes care of the rest.

Canada recently added the US to the list of countries that practice torture. This was, of course, protested by the US ambassador. "We find it to be offensive for us to be on the same list with countries like Iran and China. Quite frankly it's absurd," said David Wilkins, US ambassador to Canada. "For us to be on a list like that is just ridiculous."

Ridiculous isn't exactly the word I would have chosen, but I guess that's one of the reasons Wilkins is le grande fromage diplomat and I'm not.


wp