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Government
CIA chief Brennan would not carry out waterboarding torture for Trump or Cruz
2016-04-11
[Guardian] A future president Trump or Cruz could be defied by his own intelligence chief, after CIA director John Brennan said on Sunday he would not allow members of his agency to carry out torture techniques such as waterboarding.

"I will not agree to carry out some of these tactics and techniques I’ve heard bandied about because this institution needs to endure," Brennan told NBC News.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the leading two Republican candidates in a field of three, have suggested they would use waterboarding and other controversial "enhanced interrogation techniques" against terror suspects.

Cruz has said he does not consider waterboarding to be torture, and would "use whatever enhanced interrogation methods we could to keep this country safe".

In the aftermath of the Brussels bombings last month, Trump told NBC: "If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding. You have to get the information from people."
Posted by:Besoeker

#23  That's pretty much what he ought to say. And if there were a real ticking nuke situation that demanded torture, he should not try to justify it, but lie like a rug. Saying you'd be willing to torture is a really bad road to start down.

We've seen this sort of slippery slope before: Spying on citizens is only for national security, except when it is for drug enforcement, or ...
Posted by: james   2016-04-11 20:59  

#22  #20 LOL beat me!
Posted by: KBK   2016-04-11 18:52  

#21   yelling that the EPA will 'fight tooth and nail' against a President Trump or President Cruz.

Simple solution: Get rid of the EPA. It does far more harm than good.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2016-04-11 18:49  

#20  
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2016-04-11 18:44  

#19  I remembered an article about EPA chief Gina McCarthy yelling that the EPA will 'fight tooth and nail' against a President Trump or President Cruz.

Solution - cut their salaries to $1 - see how long they stick around.

Posted by: Raj   2016-04-11 18:42  

#18  ...Something about this was bothering me, and it took a while to figure out, especially after I remembered an article about EPA chief Gina McCarthy yelling that the EPA will 'fight tooth and nail' against a President Trump or President Cruz.

You almost wonder after putting that together if these two are implying that they will not step down if Trump or Cruz win.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2016-04-11 17:24  

#17  Snopes says that Brennan's conversion to Islam while in Saudi Arabia is Unproven. and springs from one former CIA agent. However, he's certainly said and done a few odd things over the years that would lead one in that direction.
Posted by: Secret Master   2016-04-11 17:15  

#16  Brennan is correct in that he wouldn't waterboard for Trump or Cruz. His sorry ass would have ben canned, day 1.
Posted by: Blossom Ulerenter3978   2016-04-11 14:39  

#15  So can his ass.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2016-04-11 12:04  

#14  Much easier to find and administer a bucket of water and a towel than approved psychotropic chemicals. The multi-nuanced responses from the interrogation are easier to correlate as well.
Posted by: Skidmark   2016-04-11 11:43  

#13  That's why you will not be CIA chief anymore.
Posted by: newc   2016-04-11 11:11  

#12  Why he is such an influential position is beyond me, even with Obama as President.

Brennan was the 'clean up' man. Those snoopy contractors at the Foggy Bottom passport office were his employees.

The Obama passport affair.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-04-11 10:51  

#11  Isn't Brennan the joker who converted to islam?

Why he is such an influential position is beyond me, even with Obama as President.

Suffice it to say, Trump or Cruz would ask him to resign as soon as they take office.
Posted by: jvalentour   2016-04-11 10:44  

#10  Water boarding does not work as a tactic to educe intel from a detainee. It is, however, an effective straw man cleverly designed to shift focus away from the elephant in the room. We need folks to please open their eyes and see the elephant...which is the idiotic Obama policy that does not let us capture, hold and interrogate terrorists. Detainees equal intel. Intel that leads to additional targets. A detainee equals not only intel, but forces decentralization of bad guy ops, and changes or cancellation of future bad guy ops. All good stuff. An EKIA, as referred to by Boeseker, tells no tales and equals little, if any, opportunity to target more bad guys.
Posted by: Tennessee   2016-04-11 10:41  

#9  Brennan is not irreplaceable.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia    2016-04-11 09:28  

#8  Follow-up to #7:

Obama’s Former Pentagon Chiefs: Military Suffered From Overbearing, Inexperienced White House
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-04-11 09:11  

#7  Puppet master Brennan is angered not by comments about water boarding, this is of little concern to him. His angst has surfaced as a result of the recent anti-regime media interviews by former directors and high ranking intelligence professionals.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-04-11 09:03  

#6  The perfect indication of just how miserable the CIA has become is the fact that Brennan leads it.
Posted by: Glinemp Thaling7421   2016-04-11 08:52  

#5  Incinerating Champ's 'high value targets' and everyone within the blast radius with a Hellfire missile is much more humane.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-04-11 08:07  

#4  Of course not. This is all about making Trump and Cruz scary, 'cuz they'd torture people!
Posted by: Bobby   2016-04-11 07:52  

#3  Did anyone frame the question in the ticking bomb scenario?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2016-04-11 06:19  

#2  For Hillary?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2016-04-11 06:14  

#1  "I will not agree to carry out some of these tactics and techniques I’ve heard bandied about because this institution needs to endure,"

The "institution" he is referring to is not mentioned.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-04-11 06:07  

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