George Frenkel
Specifically, WWII interrogators from Fort Hunt, Virginia. During WWII these men, who are in their 80’s and 90’s today, didn’t use torture. From the Washington Post article:
“We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture,” said Henry Kolm, 90, an MIT physicist who had been assigned to play chess in Germany with Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess.
and
“During the many interrogations, I never laid hands on anyone,” said George Frenkel, 87, of Kensington. “We extracted information in a battle of the wits. I’m proud to say I never compromised my humanity.”
These men were brought together last Friday to be honored, but they had some things to say. They didn’t want to be related in any way to the torture techniques used by the current administration.
Several of the veterans, all men in their 80s and 90s, denounced the controversial techniques. And when the time came for them to accept honors from the Army’s Freedom Team Salute, one veteran refused, citing his opposition to the war in Iraq and procedures that have been used at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
“I feel like the military is using us to say, ‘We did spooky stuff then, so it’s okay to do it now,’ ” said Arno Mayer, 81, a professor of European history at Princeton University.
This was written about on the blog crooksandliars.com on Sunday. I think it’s important to bring this up as much as possible. This is why people hate the Bush Administration. Wrong headed thinking across the board. Torture is wrong. Invading Iraq - wrong. Troop surge - wrong. And so on.
Torturing prisoners is so fundamentally stupid it boggles the mind. You’re going to make the person you’re torturing admit to anything to stop the pain. You’ve most likely made that person an enemy for life. When word gets out that you’re torturing prisoners you’ve made more enemies by word of mouth.
These WWII interrogators know something the Bushies will never know. That humanity and respect goes a long way in solving problems.
