I suffered a few inconveniences during my 24 years in the military. My right big toe has been numb since basic training because I apparently suffered nerve damage while marching. My right knee goes out occasionally, causing me to limp in pain (it's doing that now), because I once jumped into a ditch to avoid a kidnap team in South Korea (during a military exercise) and banged my knee on a rock. I'm still startled when I'm walking at night and see a garden hose coiled across a sidewalk (snake!). I have some minor scars from when a bullet went through the window of a dining hall where I was enjoying a chef salad. I saw one of my best friends die in the crash of an F-4. And then there are the nightmares that sometimes awaken me so violently that it scatters my cats. But I was never tortured (except for the time "Staying Alive" stayed on the charts for 24 weeks). I have five rows of ribbons, but I'm not a hero. John McCain is a hero. He spent 5 1/2 years as a POW. He has said that because he was considered a "special prisoner," he was targeted for intense indoctrination sessions by Vietnamese, Soviet, Chinese and Cuban intelligence apparatuses operating in U.S. POW camps.
According to McCain, the indoctrination sessions included nonstop brutal beatings and threats to withhold medical attention if he did not cooperate.
McCain admits that on his fourth day of captivity, he broke and began cooperating with the communists.
Is he still broken?
We don't beat prisoners into talking. We don't threaten to withhold medical attention. In fact, I wish I had the medical coverage that the prisoners at Git'mo have. No, the harshest interrogation technique we use is waterboarding -- a practice that makes prisoners believe they will drown, but places them in no danger. Even the toughest terrorists break under just a minute of waterboarding. Yet this is unacceptable to McCain.
Could the Senator have been so traumatized by his treatment at the hands of the North Vietnamese that he considers even a slap by a three-year-old child to be torture? Ann Coulter addresses the subject.
It turns out, the only reason McCain is demanding that prisoners like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed --— mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, the beheading of journalist Daniel Pearl and other atrocities -- be treated like Martha Stewart facing an insider trading charge is this: "It's all about the United States of America and what is going to happen to Americans who are taken prisoner in future wars."
The North Vietnamese were signatories to the Geneva Conventions. Did that help McCain? Terrorists are signatories to no international agreements. How will following the rules result in anything but torture and beheading for American soldiers? Future wars? We fight wars with countries that are evil. How can we expect evil regimes to follow ANY rules of war? McCain is wrong. Maybe Arizona voters will teach him that in the next election.
I'm stunned. I thought his reasoning would have been better than that. If he believes this out of principle...fine...but he honestly cannot believe that countries like Iran will decide their behavior based on ours???
ReplyDeleteWe have never beheaded soldiers and left them on the street to stomp on.
Anyway these are NOT soldiers of a country but terrorists why would their own country stand up for them??
An excellent post.
ReplyDeleteIs there any evidence that John Sidney McCain III has ever done something really bright on his very own?
He is a child of special privilege and upbringing (father and grandfather were notable U.S. admirals). His personal war service was courageous, and he has been able to capture a senate seat since 1987. The Keating Five thing was moronic on his part.
As an American, I am proud of John McCain's service to his country. As a voter, however, I knew long ago he was never a good fit to be the nation's leader. Since then, he has managed to make me more convinced of that opinion.
John McCain is a war hero and he can not be thanked enough for his military service-- ever.
ReplyDeleteNow with that said... McCain will never ever ever get my vote... never...ever...
God help us if he ends up being the Republican nominee for President....
never. ever.
Perhaps Mr McCain's brain was affected by the torture.
ReplyDeleteHeroism is often thrust on people. I was once ordered to do something so dangerous that I rose to my knees and went immediately blind. I don't know how long I stayed that way. It seemed like an hour, but it was probably only five minutes. But, once my vision returned, I did what I was ordered to do. Had it not been a matter of self-preservation, I don't know whether I would have run or stood my ground. But I'm sure of one thing. The Democratic Party corrupts people. No matter whether the person is John Glenn or John McCain or John Kerry or Max Cleland, once these former military heroes became Democratic politicians, they became weasels.
ReplyDelete"I have five rows of ribbons, but I'm not a hero."
ReplyDeleteYou've done your duty, served your country and held fast to your convictions all these years when many, like McCain, have chosen more popular paths and allowed themselves to be corrupted. You shouldn't be so quick to declare that you are not a hero. I beg to differ.