Al Qaeda confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden Friday in an Internet message that vowed revenge on the United States and its allies, including Pakistan…
Five days after President Barack Obama announced bin Laden’s death in a U.S. raid in Pakistan, al Qaeda vowed not to deviate from the path of armed struggle and said bin Laden’s blood “is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain.”
“It (bin Laden’s blood) will remain, with permission from Allah the Almighty, a curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries,” the militant network said in a statement released on Islamist Internet forums and translated by SITE.
al Qaeda had to confirm or deny Bin Laden’s death. If they’re to have credibility among the fools who follow their jihad, they must identify a new fearless leader. If they are to call for revenge, they must admit to the reason for that rabid outcry.
In related news, Andrew Napolitano and Michael Scheuer maintain “the government might not be ‘telling us the truth or pulling a fast one to save Obama’s…presidency’” and Washington Times editor Emily Miller tweeted “no photo of the body. That’s what we need for proof.”
The looneybirds of the world are way too important in American politics.
John McCain says torture is not effective, but former attorney general Mukasey disagrees:
Khalid Sheik Mohammed broke under harsh interrogation that included waterboarding, and disclosed a torrent of information that included the nickname of Osama bin Laden’s courier. He strongly implied in the remainder of his column in the Washington Post that this harsh interrogation was not only useless but also illegal. He is simply incorrect on all three counts.
KSM disclosed the nickname — al Kuwaiti — along with a wealth of other information, some of which was used to stop terror plots then in progress. He did so after refusing to answer questions and, when asked if further plots were afoot, said that his interrogators would eventually find out. Another detainee, captured in Iraq, disclosed that al Kuwaiti was a trusted operative of KSM’s successor, abu Faraj al-Libbi. When al-Libbi went so far as to deny even knowing the man, his importance became obvious.
Both former CIA Director Michael Hayden and former Director of National Intelligence Admiral Michael McConnell have acknowledged repeatedly that up to 2006, many of the valuable leads pursued by the intelligence community came from the three prisoners who were subjected to harsh techniques that included waterboarding in order to secure their cooperation.
#157
Then again, if I thought someone knew something important, I would probably change my mind on the spot and support torture to get the info I needed.
Then you have no boundary. Vivsection, dismemberment, electro-shock. Basically, anything is fair game is you think someone has information you need (What about “want”?). Going back at least as far as WWI, it was agreed by most nations to be unacceptable to use whatever any means you wish just because you feel threatened. There are limits.
#158
IIRC, the claim that KSM provided useful information is actually false. It was a claim made by the administration which was later determined to be untrue. I’ll have to dig up where I read that.