Gingrich On Whether Waterboarding Is Torture: ‘I Can’t Tell You’
On Friday, Fox News's Greta Van Susteren interviewed former House speaker Newt Gingrich regarding President Obama's recent release of Bush-era OLC torture memos. Throughout the interview, Gingrich tried to sit on the fence of the torture debate -- saying, for example, that "releasing the documents last week was a big mistake" but also saying "I want to see the United States run the risk, at times, of not learning certain things in order to establish a standard for civilization."
On Friday, Fox News's Greta Van Susteren interviewed former House speaker Newt Gingrich regarding President Obama's recent release of Bush-era OLC torture memos. Throughout the interview, Gingrich tried to sit on the fence of the torture debate -- saying, for example, that "releasing the documents last week was a big mistake" but also saying "I want to see the United States run the risk, at times, of not learning certain things in order to establish a standard for civilization."
When Van Susteren asked if waterboarding is torture, Gingrich hemmed and hawed. "I think it's something we shouldn't do," he said, but he qualified his statement, adding, "Lawyers I respect a great deal say it is absolutely within the law. Other lawyers say it absolutely is not. I mean, this is a debatable area." When asked if waterboarding violates international law, Gingrich played dumb:
VAN SUSTEREN: But you said a minute ago that it was torture, waterboarding...
GINGRICH: No, I said it's not something we should do.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK. Is it torture or not?
GINGRICH: I -- I -- I think it's -- I can't tell you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Does it violate the Geneva Convention?
GINGRICH: I honestly don't know.
VAN SUSTEREN: But you said a minute ago that it was torture, waterboarding...
GINGRICH: No, I said it's not something we should do.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK. Is it torture or not?
GINGRICH: I -- I -- I think it's -- I can't tell you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Does it violate the Geneva Convention?
GINGRICH: I honestly don't know.
Bill Kristol on torture memos: 'Bring it on' and have Dick Cheney testify!
(h/t Heather)
Bill Kristol is upset that the release of the CIA torture memos will open up the potential for criminal prosecutions of Bush officials. William "the Bloody" Kristol wants to release all the CIA memos and have Dick Cheney testify about them. Wow, he even admits that torture is a crime, but brings up another right-wing canard: that releasing the CIA memos and more photographs of abuse hurts our national security.
(rough transcript)
(h/t Heather)
Bill Kristol is upset that the release of the CIA torture memos will open up the potential for criminal prosecutions of Bush officials. William "the Bloody" Kristol wants to release all the CIA memos and have Dick Cheney testify about them. Wow, he even admits that torture is a crime, but brings up another right-wing canard: that releasing the CIA memos and more photographs of abuse hurts our national security.
(rough transcript)
Kristol: Torture is a crime, that is agreed upon. If these memos are so crazy, so ridiculous in their legal analysis ... three people being waterboarded, a few instances of waterboarding might not qualify as torture under certain circumstances, which is what the memos argued, then he (Obama) opened the door, and once he opened the door they're going down that road...
It's the Bush administration who authorized these things, they're still running against the Bush administration. Let's stipulate that the Bush administration did a lot for things wrong. How does that legitimize do something now that will damage our national security?
Williams: How does it damage out national security? I think when you have President Obama say somewhere we have lost our moral bearings. I don't think there's any doubt about that...
Kristol: There's a lot of doubt...
Williams: You said a moment ago that torture is illegal. You gotta remember President Reagan was out there signing the UN convention, we will not participate in torture as an American people. So something went wrong there.
It's the Bush administration who authorized these things, they're still running against the Bush administration. Let's stipulate that the Bush administration did a lot for things wrong. How does that legitimize do something now that will damage our national security?
Williams: How does it damage out national security? I think when you have President Obama say somewhere we have lost our moral bearings. I don't think there's any doubt about that...
Kristol: There's a lot of doubt...
Williams: You said a moment ago that torture is illegal. You gotta remember President Reagan was out there signing the UN convention, we will not participate in torture as an American people. So something went wrong there.
You Tube
From The Situation Room April 23, 2009. Eric Cantor tries to blame the media for the perception that the GOP doesn't want to work with the President. When asked if there was going to be some cooperation in the future from the GOP, Cantor says there will be as long as the Democrats are willing to adopt Republican ideas. I think they already did by caving on some of those tax cuts the Republicans wanted, but Cantor and Blitzer seem to have forgotten about that.
Blitzer affords Cantor every opportunity to give some specifics about just what their "new" ideas are and I sure as hell didn't hear any. Without specifics it sounded like more of the same from him. Tax cuts, status quo on health insurance and "belt tightening" which is GOP double speak for cutting social spending.
Yeah that evil media never gives you guys a chance to let anyone know how you're cooperating with the President. Like you just had in this interview and failed to do. You even managed to get a shot in and call the other side which is at most generous centrist and hardly far left, extremist. That's a great way to get some cooperation. Name calling.
BLITZER: In this most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, by an almost 2-1 margin, 62 percent to 36 percent, they believe that the president is doing more than the GOP to try to reach some sort of cooperation with the other party.
Why does the American public think that the White House and the Democrats are more assertive in wanting to cooperate with you than the Republicans are?
CANTOR: Well, Wolf, I may lay some of the blame back on that -- on your colleagues in mainstream media. It's just not as appetizing, I guess, to cover the plans that we have and the attempts that we've made and we'll continue to make to reach out not only to the president and the White House, but to Speaker Pelosi, who, frankly, has been unwilling to bring a consensus-building group together to try and see a way to bring the agenda back from the extreme to the mainstream. But we're going to continue trying.
From The Situation Room April 23, 2009. Eric Cantor tries to blame the media for the perception that the GOP doesn't want to work with the President. When asked if there was going to be some cooperation in the future from the GOP, Cantor says there will be as long as the Democrats are willing to adopt Republican ideas. I think they already did by caving on some of those tax cuts the Republicans wanted, but Cantor and Blitzer seem to have forgotten about that.
Blitzer affords Cantor every opportunity to give some specifics about just what their "new" ideas are and I sure as hell didn't hear any. Without specifics it sounded like more of the same from him. Tax cuts, status quo on health insurance and "belt tightening" which is GOP double speak for cutting social spending.
Yeah that evil media never gives you guys a chance to let anyone know how you're cooperating with the President. Like you just had in this interview and failed to do. You even managed to get a shot in and call the other side which is at most generous centrist and hardly far left, extremist. That's a great way to get some cooperation. Name calling.
BLITZER: In this most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, by an almost 2-1 margin, 62 percent to 36 percent, they believe that the president is doing more than the GOP to try to reach some sort of cooperation with the other party.
Why does the American public think that the White House and the Democrats are more assertive in wanting to cooperate with you than the Republicans are?
CANTOR: Well, Wolf, I may lay some of the blame back on that -- on your colleagues in mainstream media. It's just not as appetizing, I guess, to cover the plans that we have and the attempts that we've made and we'll continue to make to reach out not only to the president and the White House, but to Speaker Pelosi, who, frankly, has been unwilling to bring a consensus-building group together to try and see a way to bring the agenda back from the extreme to the mainstream. But we're going to continue trying.
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