Freshman Democrat Alan Grayson Opposes Obama's War Policy

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In a recent article in The New York Times, Congressional Democrats are quoted for their unease with President Obama’s seemingly open-ended commitment in Afghanistan. The most out-spoken among those in the article was Alan Grayson, a freshman from Florida. Regarding Democrats who are expressing outright opposition to continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Grayson said:

“There is no need in the 21st century to do this, to make us safe,” Representative Alan Grayson, a freshman Democrat from Florida, said of the continuing American-led wars. “This is a 19th-century strategy being played out at great expense in both money and blood in the 21st century, in the wrong time at the wrong place.”

“It’s wrong,” Mr. Grayson added. “That’s why I am going to vote against it.”


What an unusual concept it must be for Republican’s to grasp, that just because you share the same political affiliation with the president, it does not mean that you march blindly in his or her footsteps. Grayson was the subject of a 2007 article in Vanity Fair where David Rose wrote about an ambitious lawyer named Alan Grayson, who at the time was suing KBR and other defense contractors in Iraq for alleged fraud on behalf of whistleblowers and American taxpayers. Grayson ran for Congress unsuccessfully in 2006 He ran again in 2008, and this time was elected to represent Florida’s 8th district.

Read Full Article Here

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2009/05/an-interview-with-antiwar-freshman-democratic-congressman-alan-grayson.html

Waterboarding Is Torture

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Author Christopher Hitchens undergoes the controversial drowning technique, at the hands of men who once trained American soldiers to resist—not inflict—it.

As you will see in the video below, the first drop of water hits his face at 3:15 on the clock and a mere 17 seconds later, he gave the predetermined signal that he was drowning. I would like to see every public official who says that this is not torture to under go the cruel process 138 time for 10 to 20 minutes per session as was done to Kahlid Shahk Mohommad. I wonder what "vital intel" we could extract from them.

Once upon a time, waterboarding was something that Americans were being trained to resist, not to inflict. It was endured, by those members of the Special Forces who underwent the advanced form of training known as sere (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape). In these harsh exercises, brave men and women were introduced to the sorts of barbarism that American Soldiers might find at the hands of a lawless foe who shows a total disregarded the Geneva Conventions. This is exactly what and where 8 years of the Bush – Cheney regime has lead our country.

After reading the piece in Vanity Fair “Believe Me, It’s Torture,” by Christopher Hitchens, I’ve had serious reservations about the torture tactic and I call it that because that it what it is, TORTURE! -- Hitchens submitted himself to a brutal waterboarding session in an effort to understand the human cost of America’s use of harsh tactics at Guantánamo and elsewhere. He hesitantly admits that he didn’t last very long and pointed out that unlike actual detainees, he had the luxery of ending the session immediately with a predetermined singal. A signal that Hitchens used only seconds into the torture session that he underwent. This is substantiated by the photo above that shows a couple of one gallon jugs of water on the floor. One is still full and the other is missing less than a quarter of it’s contence. The megor amount of water on Hitchens light blue shirt seem to substantiate his words and the photograph itself.

Hitchens goes on to explain that his particular handlers had only trained American G.I.’s how to resist the torture tactic and had never inflicted it on an actual dteainee. Yet these handlers boasted about how it was their understanding that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the so-called “Mastermind” behind the September 11, attack lasted only two minutes before he cracked. However, Hitchens adds a (By the way, this story is not confirmed) after that claim. You’re God Damn right it’s not confirmed because it’s not true. If he cracked after 2 minutes, why in the fuck would Khalid Sheikh Mohammed need to be waterboarded 183 more times? – While The Fox News Channels Sean Hannity was bullied into undergoing waterboarding by guest Charles Grodin, it’s safe to say that he doesn’t have the balls to actually go through with it.