On to promote his new book, "Letters From Nuremberg," about his father's experiences at the Nuremberg trials Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Chris Dodd, prompted by NBC "Today" co-host Ann Curry, accused the Bush administration of supporting torture at Guantanamo Bay on Tuesday's "Today" show.
After Curry spoke to the senator about the book and the trial of Nazis after World War II, she pushed Dodd to contrast the fairness of the Nuremberg trials compared to the Bush administration's support of "tortures" at Guantanamo Bay. The following exchange occurred on the September 18 "Today" show:
Ann Curry: "In one letter your father writes about the trial, 'Some day it will be recognized as a great landmark in the struggle of mankind for peace. Some day the boys will point to it, I hope,' you being one of those boys, 'to be proud and inspired by,' clearly you are inspired and proud. However you also write, in this, in the lead into this book, 'If for 60 years a single word, Nuremberg, best captured America's moral authority and commitment to justice, unfortunately another word now captures the loss of such authority and commitment, Guantanamo.' Are you saying that the Geneva Conventions, as reinterpreted by the Bush administration, represents a loss of America's moral authority in the world?"
Sen. Chris Dodd: "I think it does and that Colin Powell made the same point in many ways. We're, this was a remarkable event at Nuremberg. We stood up for the rule of law. Churchill wanted to summarily execute the defendants at Nuremberg, the Soviets did as well. But Jackson, Henry Stimson, a few others, my father included, said, 'No let's give them a trial. Let's prove the, the difference, the civility of people who believe in the rule of law. And today, in a sense, when you do away with habeas corpus, restore tortures as means of collecting information, walk away from the Geneva Conventions, calling it sort of an antiquated idea, then it's retreating from the very high ground that Nuremberg represented at the end of World War II. We talk about the greatest generation winning that war. That greatest generation also understood the value of justice and the principles upon which this country was founded. We're retreating from those values today. That's why this book has relevancy, not just as history, but also the lessons it teaches our generation."
Curry: "Senator Chris Dodd, a man running for President of the United States and also the son of Tom. Thank you so much. A pleasure to speak to you. Best to you."
—Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
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Ann Curry
September 18, 2007 - 15:17 ET by allanfWow - what's next. This vacuous, emoting woman has come out against torture. She must feel very good about herself.
Nothing she has said on the Today Show gives any indication that she has ever thought deeply about an issue. Rather she seems to seek approval by getting behind popular causes. She certainly does not have the moxie of an Ollie North or even a Lara Logan of CBS. It is a shame she tried to posture.
Apparently some of Ann’s neighbors don’t by into her saccharine sweetness. She was sued by neighbors in 2006 over construction disturbances during the renovation of her home. Dr. John Lee and Dr. Lynn Lummel claimed workmen renovating Curry’s home punched holes in their chimney causing their house to be filled with soot. Another complainant in the lawsuit, Roseanne O’Brien claims she gave up her apartment of 25 years because of noise from the construction.
Curry’s reaction was that she was being exploited by neighbors who were just out to get her money. I wonder if her sacharrine veneer is molting?
no worries
September 18, 2007 - 15:29 ET by TruthMongerThe loss of our moral authority (from smiting the world's evil) is largely regained via gay marriage, abortions, the porn and gambling industry, rampant excess and materialism...and most importantly the worship of Hollywood and MSM celebrities like the multi-million paid Ann Curry:)
...all while the breck girl highlights our incredible American poverty...
The Alter of Celebrity
September 18, 2007 - 15:39 ET by allanfThere is no bigger celebrity worhshipper than Ann. Her gushing interview with Trudy and Sting showed that she is concerned about Global Warming. She swooned swooned when she said "Up next a gourmet picnic in Today's Kitchen but first this is today on NBC. We just talked to Helen Reddy!”
Yet she told the New York Daily News she would much rather visit Afghanistan, Iraq or Darfur than interview Paris Hilton.
I'm A Little Concerned
September 18, 2007 - 19:47 ET by Del DolemonteMs. Curry seems to have withered down to skin and bones. She's even skinnier than the Ann from the other side.
Eat some meat and carbs, Ann!
Why, Ann?Does "torture"
September 18, 2007 - 15:13 ET by drillanwrWhy, Ann?
Does "torture" make you randy??
Do you think NBC provides donkey flavored chapstick to their hosts to prevent lip chapping with all that democrat butt-kissing they do?
This is moronic. They are
September 18, 2007 - 15:41 ET by BDThis is moronic. They are equating Guantanamo with Nuremburg when the purposes are TOTALLY different:
Guantanamo is NOT about establishing guilt and punishment. Nuremburg was.
Gitmo IS about gathering usable intelligence and warehousing dangerous enemy illegal combatants.
But then who expects the press to know the difference.
BD
September 18, 2007 - 15:45 ET by drillanwrThe press knows the difference ...
The press is banking on the viewing public NOT to know the difference.
t-r-a-i-t-o-r-s
September 18, 2007 - 15:48 ET by TruthMongerexactly - they do know - thus diabolically evil pondscum
and i also question their patriotism
wordsmithing
September 18, 2007 - 22:09 ET by tenthreeleaderNo offense, but it's difficult to question something that doesn't exist. :)
The obssessive and compulsively disordered democrats
September 18, 2007 - 15:52 ET by SportPoliticsWhen are the demolibs going to let go of their twin obssessions, the VietNam war and Nazi/Hitlerism ?
Don't the libs know Uncle Joe their good commie buddy slaughtered more ? Are the libs unwilling to keep an eye on Russia and China because they still wonk their heads on nazism and vietnam, or is it that their commie views are too close to those - and people would notice ?
I am so sick of hearing the libs whine about vietnam and nazis... get something up to date you yesteryear zombies.
It's no wonder the lib-educated masses haven't a clue about the world. You've taught them to scream nazi and nam. Now we have thousands of musheaded fools that find everything in the world related to one or the other, and the 3rd obssession with Israel(post nazism) is just an extension and bridge between the other two.
Get with it dems, you're living in the past.
obsessions
September 18, 2007 - 16:45 ET by cheesegraterThey will never let go. Vietnam, erroniously called a loss, ended when Nixon was in the White House. While WW2, victory, ended when Truman, a Dem, was President. Therefore they try to convince us that Dems win wars and are superior while Republicans lose and are inferior.
What the libs don't say...
September 18, 2007 - 16:03 ET by c5thenThose at Gitmo were and are treated better then the Geneva Conventions allow. Those behing held are by the Geneva Convention's definition civilians acting as enemy combatants. Acording to the Geneve Conventions, they are allowed to be summarily execcuted. They are allowed to be held but are not required to be treated as POWs because they are not uniformed.
But of course the facts never hindered a liberal from making a perfectly good accusation.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Fred08.com
Of course, many of them
September 18, 2007 - 16:11 ET by JasonCOf course, many of them were not discovered acting as non-uniformed enemy combatants, but are simply suspected of same, and are being held without formal charges or access to counsel. I realize that's not the case of all Guantanamo inmates, as many who fit my description are shipped to Syria or Egypt instead.
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
That's right, some of them
September 18, 2007 - 16:28 ET by MightyMouthThat's right, some of them were on vacation and missed Disney Land by 8000 miles and just happend to take a wrong turn into a combat zone. Yeah I remember now.
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
nothing like rounding up
September 18, 2007 - 16:30 ET by TruthMongernothing like rounding up non-trouble makers
it's a lot of trouble to go to, but we have nothing better to do
Well, like my grandpa
September 18, 2007 - 16:31 ET by JasonCWell, like my grandpa always said, "There's no ill in this world that can't be fixed by waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and denial of due process."
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
Your grandpa must have been
September 18, 2007 - 16:33 ET by MightyMouthYour grandpa must have been a WWII vet. They weren't called the "greatest generation" for nutin!
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
In fact, he was. Aircraft
September 18, 2007 - 16:36 ET by JasonCIn fact, he was. Aircraft carrier in the pacific. He gave me his KA-BAR for my 13th birthday. I used to have it hanging on my bedroom wall, but my wife didn't like it.
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
Sounds like a good man. You
September 18, 2007 - 16:40 ET by MightyMouthSounds like a good man. You shouldn't mock his good advice so much.
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
Due process defined:
September 18, 2007 - 16:42 ET by TruthMongercutting off an opponents head, dragging your enemy through the streets until unrecognizable (according to the Geneva convention of course), bombing and destroying public facilities filled with innocent civilians, strapping bombs upon your children, mustard gassing your political opponents - or sending them through the "human shredder" and most importantly voting democrat
cutting off an opponents
September 18, 2007 - 16:59 ET by JasonCcutting off an opponents head, dragging your enemy through the streets
until unrecognizable (according to the Geneva convention of course),
bombing and destroying public facilities filled with innocent civilians [blah blah blah].
Yes, that's Them, not Us. And besides, your implied argument does nothing for the fact that everyone at Gitmo is treated as guilty.
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
The guilt or innocence of
September 18, 2007 - 17:28 ET by BDThe guilt or innocence of those confined at GITMO is not at issue. They were captured on the battlefield and being inprisoned as Illegal combatants.
They were captured on the
September 18, 2007 - 17:31 ET by JasonCThey were captured on the battlefield and being inprisoned as Illegal combatants.
All of them? Really? So what happens to them, ultimately?
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
club gitmo
September 18, 2007 - 17:41 ET by TruthMongerthey get 3 free meals a day, 5 prayer sessions a day, free medical care, air-conditioned rooms, and television...yes lets shed some light on this unspeakable cruelty people...
So do American prisoners,
September 18, 2007 - 17:46 ET by JasonCSo do American prisoners, as far as I know, but it's still a denial of freedom, and an unpleasant situation to be in. If you want to imprison the inmates who were caught red-handed, be my guest; I'm not advocating closing the facility altogether. But I'm pretty sure there are people being held there on circumstantial or unsubstantiated suspicions. To use conservative lexicon, it is an un-American approach to keep them indefinitely, fail to charge them, etc. Especially when the administration has carte blanche to decide who should and should not be there.
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
Ah yes, the "I went to
September 18, 2007 - 17:52 ET by BDAh yes, the "I went to Afghanistan in the midst of the war to live the quality Islamic Life as a Good muslim" line.
Not surprisingly if you look at history, we heard somewhat the same thing in WWII from Germans in France... "I came for the wine..."
Jason is "pretty sure"
September 18, 2007 - 17:57 ET by TruthMongerJason is "pretty sure" BD...
That's good enough for due process, I'd say:)...
So a Muslim being in a
September 18, 2007 - 17:58 ET by JasonCSo a Muslim being in a Muslim country is your basis of guilt?
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
No, but a guy detained
September 18, 2007 - 18:02 ET by BDNo, but a guy detained carrying three days ration, ammunition, and an AK-47 while enroute with ten other guys who are fleeing the US forces advance towards the Paki Tribal areas? YEAH HE GETS CAPTURED AND SENT TO GITMO.
Yes, not surprisingly, a
September 18, 2007 - 18:01 ET by BDYes, not surprisingly, a liberal believes everything the bad guy says, but not the Special Forces Team member who flexi-cuffed the bad guy after the firefight.
All that should be necessary legally to confine the bad guy in the system is his tag filled out when captured.
a friendly question about Jason's patriotism...
September 18, 2007 - 18:05 ET by TruthMongerI'm sure these fine Muslims were just walking along the street minding their own business - probably headed to a volunteer soup kitchen to help feed the homeless, and naturally our evil troops immediately sprung into action, beat them bloody, and then arrested them, and flew them off to the air-conditioned comfort of Gitmo...is that the desperate logic he's clinging to?
Yep.Funny, if you deal
September 18, 2007 - 18:12 ET by BDYep.
Funny, if you deal with interogators from the early fightin in Afghansitan, the classic dodge of the AQ member in Afghanistan.
Detainee "But honestly, I only came to the land of the Taliban to live the authentic Islamic Life and find a wife. I had nothing to do with the fighting."
Interogator "So where is your wife?"
Detainee "Kandahar"
Interogator "So why did we find you up in a cave armed to the teeth with ten other Arabs in the Sha Hi Khot Valley sixty miles from Khandahar?"
Detainee "Business Trip....?"
And the libs believe them......
This isn't quite the
September 19, 2007 - 05:25 ET by JasonCThis isn't quite the scenario I was referring to, but I appreciate the sporting replies.
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
JasonC: You need to
September 19, 2007 - 09:21 ET by BDJasonC:
You need to read Chris Mackey's book "The interogators" which covers the time period immediately after the Taliban fell and AQ scooted into Pakistan and deals with the US interogators efforts to gather militarily useful information from the bad guys.
In the book, he lays out many occasions when arabs and other islamic extremists caught in Afghanistan put out JUST that scenario after US Special Forces guys dropped them off at the interrogation facility at Bagram.
Then he goes into detail about the shipment of captured illegal combatants to Guantanamo.
If you believe these guys are "Innocent pilgrims attempting to live the authentic Islamic Life"... I have a bridge to sell you.
Don't forget the Koran
September 18, 2007 - 18:05 ET by mastersofdeceitDon't forget the korans' special treatment.
http://www.defenseli...
And the Palestinians
September 18, 2007 - 18:09 ET by TruthMongerAnd the Palestinians official "special" Bible treatment:)...
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/285123/christians_in_gaza_fear_for_their_lives.html
Nothing. Which at this
September 18, 2007 - 17:41 ET by BlondeNothing.
Which at this point, serves our purposes quite well.
They are not entitled to due process, as an American citizen is. Nor are they entitled to be treated as POW's.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
1.) If we were to play
September 18, 2007 - 17:45 ET by BD1.) If we were to play hardball in accordance with the accepted practices in warfare and with the Geneva Conventions they COULD be lined up against walls and shot for not wearing uniform or uniform items - thus being illegal combatants. I do not foresee the US doing this, but it would be on firm legal footing it it did.
2.) They can be treated as uniformed combatants and thus locked up in EPW camps til that time in which AQ formally surrenders and the US decides to release them. (You will recall that the US did not release all rank and file German POWs held in the US until 1946 and later.)
3.) They would be held until trial for war crimes is commenced. Historically this happens AFTER the ending of hostilities (see Rudolf Hess, held for five years before commencement of war crimes trials at Nuremberg), but there is no reason it cannot happen now. Interesting to note that even if found NOT guilty of warcrimes they can still be held in accordance with #2 above.
In my analysis #1 would be preferable since our enemies in AQ do not allow our uniformed and thus legal combatants to surrender but rather execute them on the spot. The US actively enacting #1, thus allowing justifiable repraisal under Generva Convention, but I do not expect it to happen.
JasonC: You asked for my
September 19, 2007 - 09:22 ET by BDJasonC:
You asked for my analysis. I gave it to you.
Now no reply?
Thank you for the analysis,
September 19, 2007 - 10:28 ET by JasonCThank you for the analysis, it was educational.
"If their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
I don't think we have lost
September 18, 2007 - 16:11 ET by Free ThinkerI don't think we have lost any moral authority, probably just the opposite - we are asserting our moral authority. That is what scares leftists so much. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Good versus evil. The Bush administration did not "reinterpret" the Geneva Convention, they are following it and it does not apply to enemy combatents such as terrorists, it was never meant to. Indeed it is Ann and her ilk who are trying to reinterpret the Geneva Convention the same way they try to reinterpret the US Constitution. And on another note, Ann needs to cite some examples of "torture" because to date I have not heard of anything more than making a terrorist feel uncomfortable or embarrassed.
Well libs have a very hard
September 18, 2007 - 16:21 ET by TruthMongerWell libs have a very hard time with morality - they don't really know what it is...but what they do know about it they don't like...and now they seem worried that we've lost it...
Don't even get me started on authority - libs don't like that either, unless they do...
If you can keep up with these pathetically confused morons be my guest...
Ann Curry: "Are you saying
September 18, 2007 - 16:52 ET by TEAnn Curry: "Are you saying that the Geneva Conventions, as reinterpreted by the Bush administration, represents a loss of America's moral authority in the world?" "America's moral authority"? Why do Ann Curry and the rest of the Atheist/Pagan Left want to impose their "morality" on the United States? Shouldn't Curry keep her "morality" in her bedroom or closet?
Chris Dodd.....oh boy.....
September 18, 2007 - 16:52 ET by Gigantor"It takes two people to lie Marge"
"One to lie and one to listen...."
"The greatest gift our country can give to the Cambodian people is
peace, not guns. And the best way to accomplish that goal is by ending
military aid now."
--Christopher Dodd. U.S. Senator.
Hmmm, wow, that sounds a lot like what he is preaching now. Leaving in a year and a half no matter if hey are close to being prepared to take complete control or not. I also remember his retort to Gen. Patraeus's hearing and it goes something like this "Well, we need to get out...." and upon hearing that if we leave to soon Iraq may collapse he said this gem "Well, it can't get much worse"
WOW. This man wants to lead the free world? Oh, and how did that whole "peace" thing work out for S.E. Asia?
Are you saying that the
September 18, 2007 - 18:32 ET by Conservative_in_mass.Are you saying that the Geneva Conventions, as reinterpreted by the Bush administration, represents a loss of America's moral authority in the world?" Re-interpreted eh?
How about a literal interpretation. The throatcutters, their accomplices, sympathizers etc. being held at Guantanamo do not past the means test to fall under the perview of the Geneva convention. They do not follow rules of engagement. They do not wear uniforms. They target civilians. HOW MANT TIMES DO YOU PEOPLE NEED TO BE TOLD THIS?
And when we do release some of these "persecuted" individuals, they go right back to their old ways; others DON'T WANT TO LEAVE.
How about we leave them in YOUR custody Ann? How long would it take one of these blood thirsty savages to lop your dome off because you didn't cover your face, or talked to another man, or did'nt stand 10 feet behind your husband? HMMM?
Ann you are a vacant lot. Can you name a country which treats its P.O.Ws better than we are treating these enemy combatants? For most of these people its been an upgrade in lifestyle.
How long do we hold them? AS LONG AS WE ARE THREATENED; AS LONG AS IT TAKES. The well being of our military people come first. If it takes 20 more years to get what we need out of them, so be it.
As for Dodd; using your father's memories as a way to take a potshot at our President in a time of war is most disappointing sir. You not only diminish his experience, but all those who fought the Nazi scourge in Europe (which includes 4 from my family). It was their sacrifices in North Africa, Italy, France, Austria and Germany that made bringing those criminals to justice possible. Using that for political gain; for that sir, you should be ashamed.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. ~ Unknown
JasonC...
September 18, 2007 - 19:05 ET by MrShyLet's back up... way up... because I want to understand your fixation with Gitmo and this perception you have of it:
What -- and be specific -- do you recommend be our precedure, when capturing non-U.S. and un-uniformed people we capture in the theater of battle -- and that we strongly suspect of being enemy combatants -- in this unprecedented time of war with radical jihadists that we're in? What sort of process should we have to weed out possible innocents? AND, where we're sure they're innocent beyond a reasonable doubt and it turns out we detained them mistakenly?
Thomas Dodd used Nazi Laws
September 18, 2007 - 21:51 ET by fosstenHow dare anyone on TV speak positively of Thomas Dodd. Does nobody remember that he is the man who used the Nazi Gun Laws as a template for the 1968 Gun Control Act?
Forget 911, I dial 9MM.
Nurenburg
September 18, 2007 - 22:25 ET by BlondeNuremburg was all about war criminals and war crimes. Chris Dodd's blather is about nothing substantial, whatsoever.
Nuremburg is a beautiful old medieval city. Historic in many, many ways. Of course, infamous as being part of the heart of the Reich.
The castle in Nuremburg kicked my a**, many years ago, when I climbed the tower in my cowboy boots.
But for these libs to even try to equate the Nuremburg trials to Gitmo is beyond the surreal. Maybe if we kick the Gitmo scum down the well in the Nuremburg castle....to their deaths...that might equate. Well, then again, maybe not.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
I don't bother watching
September 19, 2007 - 05:00 ET by Andrew H.I don't bother watching Curry or several others--even when I do have the time--I certainly do not waste my time when Dodd is interviewed.
Liberalism is a convenient lie.