The Day John McCain Lost My Vote

The day when John McCain lost my vote is when he did not vote for a bill that would have made waterboarding an illegal tactic for the CIA to utilize.

Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war, has consistently voiced opposition to waterboarding and other methods that critics say is a form torture. But the Republicans, confident of a White House veto, did not mount the challenge. Mr. McCain voted “no” on Wednesday afternoon.

I have seen various videos of individuals being waterboarded and it is most definitely torture. A State Department official once stated that he wanted to go through it before he supported it or opposed it. After he went through it, he said it was the most terrifying experience of his life and it is indeed torture.

How can Senator McCain abandon one of his strongest beliefs that the United States should not torture? Has he forgotten the days when he was tortured? I do not think that is possible, but I think he wants to win votes in his party rather than stand for a human rights issue. He has said he would rather win the war than win an election. Apparently, he would rather win the election than outlaw torture.

After World War II, the United States prosecuted Japanese soldiers who water-boarded others. We ended WWII with such a high moral authority and now it has been eroded.

Additionally, as started by President Clinton and used by the Bush Administration, the CIA uses extreme tactics such as extraordinary rendition.

The Wikipedia definition: the apprehension and extrajudicial transfers of a person from one state to another, particularly with regard to the alleged transfer of suspected terrorists to countries known to torture prisoners or to employ hard interrogation techniques that may rise to the level of torture.

The CIA “renders” a person to a different country (often a country that uses torture such as Egypt and Syria) in order to interrogate an individual. The is one story where an Islamic guy was “rendered” because the CIA interpreted one of his phone calls wrong. The CIA believed that the guy was talking about airplanes to a friend. He then was rendered for 18 months or so. This guy was not talking about airplanes, but rather tires. The words for airplanes and tires are similar in Arabic, which tirat means tires and tairat means airplanes. This sounds more like an “erroneous rendition.”

This practice violates the spirit of the United States and numerous international treaties, which when signed and ratified by the United States, the treaties are just as significant as the United States Constitution.

Now would John McCain continue this process to win this war that he cares so much about?

- Jen