New poll finds majority of Americans believe torture justified after 9/11 attacks

[NACBA]

A majority of Americans believe that the harsh interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were justified, even as about half the public says the treatment amounted to torture, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

By an almost 2-1 margin, or 59-to-31 percent, those interviewed support the CIA’s brutal methods, with the vast majority of supporters saying they produced valuable intelligence.

In general, 58 percent say the torture of suspected terrorists can be justified “often” or “sometimes.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/new-poll-finds-majority-of-americans-believe-torture-justified-after-911-attacks/2014/12/16/f6ee1208-847c-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage

[Spikender]

I can't wait until the day their children are abducted by the Government and interrogated using the same techniques.

Oh, but they're Americans, right? So that would never happen to their children, right?

There is a such thing as unacceptable tactics and acceptable targets. But these people believe the exact opposite of that: there is no such thing as an unacceptable tactic, but there are unacceptable targets for those tactics. What's good for the goose should be good for the gander, but they believe the people tortured were "terrorists" and that they deserved it because of their non/anti-American association they were given.

[enhanced_deficit]

Polls are interesting.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/911worldopinionpoll_Sep2008_pie.png/350px-911worldopinionpoll_Sep2008_pie.png (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOpinion _polls_about_9%2F11_conspiracy_theories&ei=3F2QVJKXIIyZgwTb4IPYAQ&bvm=bv.81828268,d.eXY&psig=AFQjCNGqtsPWRhQM6RMH8vpSkOX0MG0_2g&ust=1418833754031654)

[muh_roads]

I want off this planet.

[Ronin Truth]

According to the late Bob LeFevre, only about 5% of mankind is civilized.

[ZENemy]

This is a phone poll and they only questioned 1000 people. Its pathetic.

[William Tell]

Sounds like Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany. How many of these people have heard of the 8th amendment? I think that should become a big campaign of ours. Always bring up how torture violates the Constitution.

[Christian Liberty]

Sounds like Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany. How many of these people have heard of the 8th amendment? I think that should become a big campaign of ours. Always bring up how torture violates the Constitution.

The problem is that most people in America have nationalistic prejudices, and they believe non-Americans shouldn't be given constitutional rights. Some don't even believe "terrorists" should be given human rights...

[otherone]

The problem is that most people in America have nationalistic prejudices, and they believe non-Americans shouldn't be given constitutional rights. Some don't even believe "terrorists" should be given human rights...

Most Americans believe the constitution is powerless to protect the rights of those outside the jurisdiction of the federal government. Ironically, the federal government believes the entire world to be within it's jurisdiction.

[Kotin]

shocker.. /sarcasm


:( :( :(

[Brian4Liberty]

What came first, public acceptance of torture, or media and entertainment propaganda promoting torture?

[William Tell]

What came first, public acceptance of torture, or media and entertainment propaganda promoting torture?

I have no doubt that those lame Cop shows on TV has had a big effect on it. There's always some terrorist who needs to be tortured so he will tell how to diffuse his bomb.

[Lucille]

"I would rather die in a country that upholds every human’s inalienable rights than live in a country ‘protected’ by barbarous thugs (http://blog.independent.org/2014/12/15/the-long-road-back-from-torture/)."

That.

[56ktarget]

This is a phone poll and they only questioned 1000 people. Its pathetic.
Another moron who doesn't understand statistics.

[DFF]

Aside from the fact that it's supremely evil, by torturing suspects, this opens the door to future US POW's being tortured as "payback."

[William Tell]

Aside from the fact that it's supremely evil, by torturing suspects, this opens the door to US POW's being tortured as "payback."

Yep, and the lame Neocon response is "the enemy already does that sort of stuff" :rolleyes:

[A Son of Liberty]

But, "elections".

[jkob]

guess what, terrorists think 9/11 was justified because of torture

[presence]

But, "elections".

Prime example of why hearts and minds must come first.


How many of these people polled realized we were shoving crunch peanut butter up the asses of those detained in the name of the USA?

[mosquitobite]

On my iPad so I can't pull up the meme I created with Jack Bauer interrogating.

Successful propaganda. And Americans are too sheeple to even realize they were brainwashed.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

By an almost 2-1 margin, or 59-to-31 percent, those interviewed support the CIA’s brutal methods, with the vast majority of supporters saying they produced valuable intelligence.


Yes, I'm sure the vast majority of fat Americans know what they're talking about when discussing this subject. :rolleyes:

[mosquitobite]

Yes, I'm sure the vast majority of fat Americans know what they're talking about when discussing this subject. :rolleyes:


Sure they do! They've watched enough 24!

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Another moron who doesn't understand statistics.

Wow, what a contribution. I'm guessing you could not really type more because you got tired. Just like the typical lazy lib that you are. Maybe somebody else can do your typing and thinking, huh.


Edit: Oh, and I forgot to neg rep you. Merry Christmas.

[UWDude]

And Edward Snowden told us the CIA skews polls.

I have noticed, that the media puts up pictures of the Sydney Hostage Debacle next to headlines about the torture report. How convenient.

[DamianTV]

Id really like to hear how the poll question was literally phrased, not paraphrased, or re-expressed or interpreted, I mean the literal word for word statement of what was actually asked. I'll betcha money they think "Enhanced Interrogation Techiques" and "Torture" are not the same thing.

Remember FRANK LUTZ.

It matters little if the majority was not contrived into expressing an expected outcome, if an actual majority did support torture, it still does not make it the right thing to do as the self proclaimed "Leaders of the Free World". Now please rip that last five word quoted phrase to shreds...

FUCK YOU FRANK!

[Mani]

A majority of Americans believe that the harsh interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were justified, even as about half the public says the treatment amounted to torture, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

By an almost 2-1 margin, or 59-to-31 percent, those interviewed support the CIA’s brutal methods, with the vast majority of supporters saying they produced valuable intelligence.

In general, 58 percent say the torture of suspected terrorists can be justified “often” or “sometimes.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/new-poll-finds-majority-of-americans-believe-torture-justified-after-911-attacks/2014/12/16/f6ee1208-847c-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage


How would random mundanes on a phone poll know the torture techniques produced valuable intelligence?



I think the wording of the poll can be misleading as Damian pointed out, but for the Foxbots who picked up the phone voting yes we already know they are OK with it, because.....ready for it??


Because we are the goodguys!! We only torture the bad guys! So it's OK! DERP!!! We only torture evil terrorists, while we fight for FREEDOM!!!!!!! God Bless USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!


And if any terrorists capture Americans and torture them, well it just goes to show you, they hate us for our freedom, and we were right, they are evil terrorists! See! They torture!! No, my argument isn't circular, because we fight for FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!

[Spikender]

Great Satan sharpens his pitchfork.

[William Tell]

Id really like to hear how the poll question was literally phrased, not paraphrased, or re-expressed or interpreted, I mean the literal word for word statement of what was actually asked. I'll betcha money they think "Enhanced Interrogation Techiques" and "Torture" are not the same thing.

Remember FRANK LUTZ.

It matters little if the majority was not contrived into expressing an expected outcome, if an actual majority did support torture, it still does not make it the right thing to do as the self proclaimed "Leaders of the Free World". Now please rip that last five word quoted phrase to shreds...

FUCK YOU FRANK!

Here are the actual questions. Of course people are uninformed about what actually went on, but they still have opinions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/12/16/National-Politics/Polling/release_376.xml

[Lucille]

New Poll Finds 59% Of Americans Support Post-9/11 Torture – Propaganda, Cultural Sickness, Or Both?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-17/new-poll-finds-59-americans-support-post-911-torture-%E2%80%93-propaganda-cultural-sickness-



Ever since the torture report was released last week, U.S. television outlets have endlessly featured American torturers and torture proponents. But there was one group that was almost never heard from: the victims of their torture, not even the ones recognized by the U.S. Government itself as innocent, not even the family members of the ones they tortured to death. Whether by design (most likely) or effect, this inexcusable omission radically distorts coverage.

Whenever America is forced to confront its heinous acts, the central strategy is to disappear the victims, render them invisible. That’s what robs them of their humanity: it’s the process of dehumanization. That, in turns, is what enables American elites first to support atrocities, and then, when forced to reckon with them, tell themselves that – despite some isolated and well-intentioned bad acts – they are still really good, elevated, noble, admirable people. It’s hardly surprising, then, that a Washington Post/ABC News poll released this morning found that a large majority of Americans believe torture is justified even when you call it “torture.” Not having to think about actual human victims makes it easy to justify any sort of crime.
– From Glenn Greenwald’s latest piece: U.S. TV Provides Ample Platform for American Torturers, but None to Their Victims

After reading about a new poll that shows 59% of Americans support post 9/11 torture, I’ve spent the entire morning thinking about what it means. Does this confirm the total degeneration of American culture into a collective of chicken-hawk, unthinking, statist war-mongering automatons? Alternatively, does it merely reflect the effectiveness of corporate-government propaganda? Is it a combination of both? How does the poll spilt by age group?

These are all important questions to which I do not have definitive answers, but I have some thoughts I’d like to share. First, here are some of the observations from the Washington Post:


A majority of Americans believe that the harsh interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were justified, even as about half the public says the treatment amounted to torture, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

By an almost 2-1 margin, or 59-to-31 percent, those interviewed support the CIA’s brutal methods, with the vast majority of supporters saying they produced valuable intelligence.

In general, 58 percent say the torture of suspected terrorists can be justified “often” or “sometimes.”

The new poll comes on the heels of a scathing Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into the CIA’s detention and interrogation program, which President Obama ended in 2009. The report concluded that controversial interrogation techniques — including waterboarding detainees, placing them in stress positions and keeping them inside confinement boxes — were not an effective means of acquiring intelligence.

This is important, because despite the Senate Report showing torture was not effective in acquiring intelligence (see: Revelations from the Torture Report – CIA Lies, Nazi Methods and the $81 Million No-Bid Torture Contract), the American public thinks it was. This is the power of mainstream media spin and propaganda.


Fifty-three percent of Americans say the CIA’s harsh interrogation of suspected terrorists produced important information that could not have been obtained any other way, while 31 percent say it did not.

In a CBS poll released Monday, nearly seven in 10 considered waterboarding torture, but about half said the technique and others are, at times, justified. Fifty-seven percent said harsh interrogation techniques can provide information that can prevent terrorist attacks.

While the above is disturbing, if I felt that the culture is lost beyond hope and that my fellow American is akin to a zombified sociopath with no hope of awakening, I wouldn’t be writing on this website. I would have renounced my citizenship long ago and moved somewhere else. In contrast, I think there’s a lot to fight for in these United States and I think the war for freedom, civil rights and the rule of law can and will prevail. After all, I was admittedly more or less a zombie during the years immediately following 9/11 and for most of my time on Wall Street. If I was able to make such a profound transition (and countless of my friends have as well ), then there is always hope...

[RonPaulIsGreat]

And the day comes for all men with the will to think to realize, that they are not the common case, but the anomaly, the norm is lust for conformity and fulfillment of base desire. Nothing more, no deep philosophy, no guiding compass dictating right and wrong, just the animal heart and the rhythm of the herd running towards something, something for an unknown reason, without reflection, because that is what humans do.