Osama bin Laden is dead. It feels so good to be able to make that statement after nearly a decade of struggle. And you’ll never guess how we found out key information that led us to him, especially if you’ve followed the narrative of the Left throughout the War on Terror. To explain what allowed our Navy SEALS to be able to send Bin Laden to meet his maker, let’s take a little trip back in time.
Think back with me to the earlier days of the War on Terror. Remember those days, when our president was a reckless cowboy who fought wars for oil and said things like “Bring it on!” and had the gall to stand in front of signs that read “Mission Accomplished” when certain parts of his administration’s missions were actually accomplished?
Back then, our intelligence agencies employed techniques which became known as “enhanced interrogation” on detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. At the time, the Left was up in arms over the use of such techniques, claiming that they were both cruel and ineffective. Leftists in Congress demanded that the American people be told why enhanced interrogation techniques were being used against militant Islamists intent on destroying our country.
Here’s a sample of what some of them had to say about enhanced interrogation:
Coercive interrogation techniques can lead prisoners to say anything to stop the interrogation. As a result, coercive techniques can produce information that is fabricated and ultimately lead [sic] to flawed and misleading intelligence reports. This is not an academic or hypothetical point. Bad intelligence is a real danger when employing coercive interrogation techniques. Since the disclosure of information about the existence of secret prisons and the use of harsh interrogation techniques, the reputation and moral authority of the United States have suffered dramatically. Rather than being a world leader in human rights, we have become known for the unapologetic use of aggressive interrogation techniques.
–Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
We need to get to the bottom of what went wrong after a dangerous and disastrous diversion from American law and values. The American people have a right to know what their government has done in their names.
–Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
I reject the Bush administration’s twisted logic justifying torture. I will release the legal opinions justifying it, and end the abuse of classification and legal privilege to hide un-American legal judgments.
–Senator John Edwards (D-NC)
History has shown that when torture is employed, interrogators become lazy and brutal, and many, many innocent people die or are destroyed for life. Our humanity is the first death in the process.
–Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
I have been consistent in my strong beliefs that no administration should allow the use of torture, including so-called “enhanced-interrogation techniques…”
–Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)
Fast forward to today, when our president is much more nuanced, sophisticated, and intelligent in ways only a community organizer can be. On Obama’s watch, Osama bin Laden was caught and killed. Using precise intel, extracted through tried and true techniques, elite members of our military were able to track down and end the life of one the world’s most notorious terrorist.
What techniques, you may wonder, were used to gain the intelligence necessary to find Bin Laden? Enhanced interrogation, of course.
You read that right. Some of these “twisted,” “brutal,” “disastrous” techniques, put crucial pieces of evidence in the hands of our military, helping lead them to Osama bin Laden.
The links between terror detainees and bin Laden in Pakistan were made through the discovery of the terror leader’s personal courier. The Right Sphere explains how the connections were made:
The information about this courier was apparently corroborated by intel obtained from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during enhanced interrogation.
[...]
The other detainee…who gave up the intel on the courier was Abu Faraj al-Libi who was captured in 2005 and eventually wound up at Gitmo. Al-Libi took over KSM’s spot at Al-Qaeda after KSM was captured. …[Al-Libi] wasn’t subjected to enhanced interrogation. KSM was – in 2003, but not at Gitmo – prior to al-Libi’s arrest.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques eight years ago, which ultimately led authorities to Osama bin Laden’s personal courier. From there, our military was able to get to Bin Laden. Simply put, none of what went down on May 1 would have been possible without the dreaded enhanced interrogation.
There are those, particularly on the Left, who tend to forget that we’re still at war, though not necessarily in a traditional sense. The War on Terror didn’t end with the liberation of Iraq or with the emergence of freedom in Afghanistan, and it certainly doesn’t end with the death of Osama bin Laden. It’s a long struggle against an enemy whose only language is barbarism and violence. So it’s no surprise that techniques which come across as barbaric actually yield pivotal information from members of terrorist organizations.
The Left needs to understand that decisions like the one to employ enhanced interrogation techniques are best made not by politicians, bureaucrats, or theoreticians, but by the members of the intelligence community and the military who are prosecuting this war. If they remember that one fact, we just might be able to win this war sooner rather than later.
No comments:
Post a Comment