Frist waxes incoherent on torture bill, terrorism report

Senate majority leader Bill Frist has an intriguing take on pending Senate legislation that would legitimate certain torture techniques: he says that if he talks about specific provisions in the bill, terrorists “[will] come and try to assassinate us and people listening to us right now.”

Frist was responding to questions about the “compromise” legislation permanently stripping some US prisoners of their habeas rights and authorizing the CIA to conduct interrogations in violation of the Geneva Conventions, and the new — actually not so new; it was completed almost six months ago — National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq.

The leader of what is widely considered to be the more thoughtful and deliberative chamber of Congress also said, in a moment reminiscent of his psychic Terri Schiavo diagnosis, that while he hadn’t seen the NIE and doesn’t know what it says, it shows that “[w]e’ve got to win this war on terror, wherever it is, and it’s going to be fought overseas, or if we don’t win there, it’s going to be fought here in the United States.”

Translated, Frist’s comment on the NIE means that if we’re to triumph over the new generation of extremists and terrorists created by our invasion and occupation of Iraq, we must stay the course and continue creating more extremists and terrorists.

Maybe there’s a certain logic there: if we can turn the entire population of the Middle East into extremists and terrorists, we can dispense with the tiresome exercise of trying to distinguish between enemies and innocents and just nuke the joint.

Frist’s refusal to discuss the specifics of the pending torture authorization bill lacks even that modicum of homicidal logic. If he had followed up his response by flashing back to his college days and whipping out a scalpel for some impromptu heart surgery on the reporter, his attorney could make a good case for innocence by virtue of mental defect. Hell, he might not even lose his job. Here’s the full quote, in all it’s imbecilic glory.

“I’m not going to comment on individual techniques,” Frist said. “It helps the terrorists and the reason why it helps the terrorists who are going to come and try to assassinate us and people listening to us right now.”

“A verb, Senator! We need a verb!”

This is, mind you, a man who wants to be president. And although he might be in the running for least moral, he’s not even the stupidest one.

I wouldn’t want to stand up in front of a camera and enumerate the varieties of torture I just legalized either, but it wouldn’t be from fear of terrorists.

Take cover.

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10 Responses to “Frist waxes incoherent on torture bill, terrorism report”

1. 1
   surfguitargreat Says:
   

   Fuck you – Bill Frist has more going for him in his pinkie than you will ever have in your pathetic life. Fucking looser – get a job.

   September 24th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
2. 2
   Weldon Berger Says:
   

   There are few things less irritating than being called a loser by someone who can’t spell the word.

   September 24th, 2006 at 11:12 pm
3. 3
   Martin Says:
   

   Great article. It’s such a frustrating situation – stupid evil men debasing the US’s best asset in the so called war on terror: it’s principles.

   September 24th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
4. 4
   floridadreaming Says:
   

   Bill Frist was not incoherent. It is easy to take the spoken word out of context. You need to pay attention to what he is saying. He has it right. If we don’t win the war on terror in the middle east, you and all your friends will be fighting right here at home. Frist is a smart articulate man and he has a lot of good ideas.

   September 25th, 2006 at 1:02 am
5. 5
   Weldon Berger Says:
   

   If by “context” you mean “Bizarro World,” then yeah, I took his words out of context.

   September 25th, 2006 at 1:16 am
6. 6
   PubliusToo Says:
   

   I think Senator Frist’s point is that if the federal government reveals the questionable interrogation techniques to allay concerns that they are tantamount to torture, then the terrorists will know what to expect and can adapt to the interrogation techniques so revealed. Although he has a valid point as far as it goes, he cannot reasonably expect the Congress to enact legislation to legalize those techniques without revealing the techniques themselves. (For that matter, why would they need legislative approval if they are not current illegal under the Geneva Conventions?) By granting the executive branch carte blanche to interrogate without regard to the strictures of existing treaty commitments, Congress would be abdicating its oversight responsibility and, worse, would give a green light for adversaries to ignore those same treaties protecting American servicemen in times of war. Sadly, the President of the United States continues to cede the moral high ground with these absurd requests.

   September 25th, 2006 at 7:23 am
7. 7
   Weldon Berger Says:
   

   P: that was one of his points; the other, apparently, was that if they knew how rotten we were they’d come and kill us. But even the first point is stupid. The problem isn’t that these methods of torture are secret. They aren’t; they’ve been in the news for years now. Any terrorist who wants to train to resist them has had plenty of warning. But even that isn’t really an issue; organizations with secrets assume their members will talk if captured. That’s why groups such as al Qaeda try to limit what and who their members know. The only good reason for not enumerating the techniques is to keep the rest of the world guessing as to exactly how barbarous we’ve become.

   September 25th, 2006 at 8:52 am
8. 8
   OldSoul Says:
   

   I am not sure which I find more repugnant, this administration’s erosion of the liberties enjoyed by its citizens, or its wholesale ignorance of humanitarian justice for all. It would be my hope that every legislator who voted in favor of this act gets to experience the treatment they authorized first-hand.

   September 25th, 2006 at 10:37 am
9. 9
   Amy Says:
   

   I will quote another blogger (Jon Armstrong) and ask: “What America is this?”

   Are commenters here actually defending the notion that the United States of America should condone and conduct TORTURE? Torture, people. You’re defending the notion of our government, in your name, torturing people.

   There is a reason that TORTURE has been repugnant, outlawed, disallowed, debated…

   Shame on anyone who would consider this an option in our arsenal.

   Do I even need to point out that torture does not work? Does not lead to usable “intelligence”. Does nothing to further our cause or our security? Oh, and – it just makes us look HORRIBLE and grow more hated on the international stage.

   If you can’t object to sanctioned torture on a moral basis (seriously, you can’t?) then at least realize that, politically, it hurts us more than it helps us.

   October 18th, 2006 at 4:19 am
10. 10
    Weldon Berger Says:
    

    They’re in good company, though. Most of the Senate agree. Oh well …

    October 18th, 2006 at 8:02 am

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