Condi Rice Defends Torture in Debate with Student - "No, no dear, you're wrong" (VIDEO)

[jefferson_dem]

Rice Defends Enhanced Interrogations
Updated 2:07 p.m.
By Glenn Kessler

While Vice President Cheney has publicly defended the Bush administration's use of enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, other senior decision-makers at the time have remained silent. But former secretary of State and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice -- who declined to comment last week on the release of Justice Department memos authorizing the practice -- was caught on video tape this week giving a finger-wagging defense to a persistent Stanford University student.

"In terms of the enhanced interrogation and so forth, anything that was legal and was going to make this country safer, the president wanted to do," Rice said. "Nothing that was illegal. And nothing that was going to make the country less safe." She also urged the student to remember the context of the decision-making in 2002, shortly after the sept. 11 attacks. "Unless you were there, in a position of responsibility after September 11th, you cannot possibly imagine the dilemmas that you faced in trying to protect Americans," she said, adding "you were determined to do anything that you could that was legal to prevent that from happening again."

Rice became riled when the student noted that the United States did not torture during World War II.

"With all due respect, Nazi Germany never attacked the homeland of the United States," Rice shot back.

Japan, Germany's ally, however, attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing 2,350 military personnel and civilians.

The student persists, and says that the United States tortured detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

"No, no dear, you're wrong," Rice said. "You're wrong. We did not torture anyone. And Guantanamo Bay, by the way, was considered a model quote-'medium security prison' by representatives of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe who went there to see it. Did you know that?"

<SNIP>

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/04/30/rice_defends_enhanced_interrog.html#more

VIDEO of exchange here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijEED_iviTA

[monmouth]

1. Hope those kids don't flunk that course. She's as bad as the rest of them.....n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Props to student

Yes Madamne Secretary we did torture

Yes Madamne Secretary you belong on the docket

Yes Madamne secretary I expect you to use the same defense as any other War Criminal

[mix]

3. That's their line of defense?

Waterboarding is not torture, therefore "we did not torture anyone"?

Pathetic.

I hope Stanford's students keep the pressure up, someone that ethically challenged should have nothing to do with education.

[merh]

5. that is their defense and the fact that the president told them they could

She needs to listen to herself. She did what she could because of the 3000 deaths, what the hell does she think our enemies do and feel after the hundreds of thousands of deaths we have caused.

Revenge v. justice, they don't have a clue.

[jefferson_dem]

6. She might as well have said "I know you are but what am I."

Condi was getting visibly rattled here and knew she was pinned down...but she kept on digging. Makes one wonder what she's really hiding.

[merh]

4. She is so lying

Someone tell me, is it pure denial so she can live with herself or does she not know - is she that clueless.

The poor kid wasn't quick on his feet, she is the one that did not do her homework.

I hope she is indicted, is tried by a jury of her peers and convicted to live the remainder of her life in prison, doing her home work.

[sampsonblk]

7. Rice should be arrested immediately - nt

[nc4bo]

8. Evil, evil woman. She was a perfect fit for the previous admin. Just perfect.

I'd love the opportunity to waterboard her ass. As far as she's concerned, it's not torture.

Come on Condi, wanna play a game?

[AndyA]

9. Condi Rice is in "cover my ass" mode right now.

I hope she never has the chance to instruct students. She was the most ineffective Secretary of State I can think of, and went along with Bush in the decision to torture.

It is not lost on most of America that she also failed to do her job in the days before 9/11/2001. They did not protect America, they FAILED America. Someone must answer for those actions, and justice must be served.

[Hutzpa]

10. Hey! Condo.....

even if the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe went to Guantanamo to see it or assumes Guantanamo as a model prison, that still does not justify torture, it still does not
give America green light to water-board any prisoner, you get that.

You took advantage of the kids intelligence....poor kid.

[ThirdWorldJohn]

11. Scalia agrees with Condi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T72vgAEX66M

[damonm]

12. Oh, that is SUCH a shock...

[uponit7771]

13. She defendin her mans....

[Clio the Leo]

14. My goodness she sounded nervous.

Or scared or angry or all of the above.

[LiberalFighter]

15. She was condescending when she said "No dear"

[LiberalFighter]

16. Too bad the student didn't rebut the twit with her failure to stop 9/11

when they had intel about it.

[mix]

17. al-Qaida a greater threat than Nazism?

only in Republican bizarro world

[Supersedeas]

18. Zielkov was there, others disagreed with torture--and were IGNORED

[Alameda]

19. Who is Zielkov?