Rick Santorum: John McCain “Doesn’t Understand” Torture

Rick Santorum, may have made the dumbest comment of the Presidential campaign so far:

Here’s Santorum:

HH: Now your former colleague, John McCain, said look, there’s no record, there’s no evidence here that these methods actually led to the capture or the killing of bin Laden. Do you disagree with that? Or do you think he’s got an argument?

RS: I don’t, everything I’ve read shows that we would not have gotten this information as to who this man was if it had not been gotten information from people who were subject to enhanced interrogation. And so this idea that we didn’t ask that question while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was being waterboarded, he doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they’re broken, they become cooperative. And that’s when we got this information. And one thing led to another, and led to another, and that’s how we ended up with bin Laden.

I’m no McCain, but I’m pretty sure that if there’s one thing he understands very well, its torture of prisoners.

 

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, Intelligence, National Security, Terrorism, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Vast Variety says:

    I’m not really a John McCain fan but I hope he takes Santorum to the mat on this one.

  2. legion says:

    Wow. And this cretin is one of the GOP front-runners? It’s gonna be a loooooooong primary, people.

  3. I would not call Santorum a “front runner”

  4. Yeah, Santorum usually runs out the back…

  5. legion says:

    @Stormy,
    +1

  6. reid says:

    Stormy: Bravo, you sicko, bravo!

  7. TG Chicago says:

    Well played:

    So I asked McCain spokesperson Brooke Buchanan for a response to Santorum. She emailed a one word reply:

    Who?

  8. Franklin says:

    Doug, knowingly or not, set up the ball, and Stormy spiked it. Nice work, fellas.

  9. Neil Hudelson says:

    Heeheeehee, I’m fracking loving the Republican primaries. Screw the stanley cup or baseball, this is real entertainment.

  10. narciso says:

    Right, a terrorist who planned the deaths of 3,000 Americans is the same as a uniformed US official.

  11. labman57 says:

    Could Santorum possibly be that ignorant about the personal history of GOP’s most recent nominee for POTUS?
    Or is he simply so pompous that he considers his personal opinion to be paramount while simultaneously regarding McCain’s first hand expertise to be irrelevant?

    Even Santorum’s conservative pals are probably rolling their eyes over this lame comment.

  12. anjin-san says:

    Fox has been running with the “torture rocks” meme 24/7 since bin laden’s death. The GOP candidates have their marching orders…

  13. george says:

    I’m not really a John McCain fan but I hope he takes Santorum to the mat on this one.

    Same.

  14. Franklin says:

    Being serious for a moment, where exactly does Little Ricky get his expertise on torture and/or interrogation? He’s a career politician, no military experience, no law enforcement experience, and I can’t even find evidence he’s on those types of committees, either. He has literally nothing to back up his “opinion.” Compare that to John McCain and I think you’ll find that Santorum is an even bigger joke than he already was.

  15. mantis says:

    Being serious for a moment, where exactly does Little Ricky get his expertise on torture and/or interrogation? He’s a career politician, no military experience, no law enforcement experience, and I can’t even find evidence he’s on those types of committees, either.

    Jebus told him all about it personally.

  16. Jim says:

    That is why we voted him out in PA.