Guantanamo And Water Boarding -- Two Commentaries

Marc Thiessen And The Dishonest Waterboarding Debate -- Michael Scherer, Time Magazine

"We waterboarded in the CIA--the CIA waterboarded three terrorists. Just three. Nobody was waterboarded at Guantanamo. You know who else the U.S. has waterboarded? Tens of thousands of American service members during their SERE training."

--Marc Thiessen, former White House speechwriter on CNN, January 20, 2010

In late January, the former Bush Administration speechwriter Marc Thiessen, who has since become a Washington Post columnist, appeared on Christiane Amanpour's CNN show to discuss harsh waterboarding. He made a splash.

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My Comment: I have always been a fan of Marc Thiessen. I saw what he did to Christiane Amanpour on CNN, and she did deserve the criticism that Marc Thiessen gave to her. Having said that, it is very difficult to discuss such an important issue in the few minutes that are allocated to you when you do a TV spot. I guess this is why I now tend to stay away from these forums .... Marc Thiessen knows his stuff, but it is next to impossible to make any salient point in two minutes and on this issue Michael Scherer is right. Christiane Amanpour also knows her stuff .... but she is also put in the same situation of making a point in a few minutes .... and like most pundits does a lousy job while doing it.

Guantanamo Bay 'will be closed no later than one year from now'.
(REUTERS: Brennan Linsley)

The World Goes Silent on Guantanamo? -- Victor Davis Hanson, National Review

Given that there is now almost no leftwing furor over Guantanamo—reminding us that the problem was probably never the detention center per se, but rather the liberal narrative of George Bush as outlaw—there seems to have been an administration decision made not to worry much about reneging on the pledge to have closed it by January 2010.

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My Comment: I know exactly what Victor Hanson is feeling .... I have spent the past few years debating with many on the opposite side of this issue on the necessity of keeping institutions like Guantanamo in place as an option for the President to conduct his long war against radical Islam and all of its offshoots.

Now that their man is in the White House .... I hear nothing but silence. There is now little if any criticism from the main stream media, academics, and the Democrat Party on this topic .... if there is criticism it is only from the dedicated and principled few who still maintain their principles on closing Guantanamo .... and for that I applaud them even though I disagree with them.