The Power of Language

[Advisory: News brief contains some graphic references]

Never having been waterboarded and therefore unable to speak from personal experience, it was particularly interesting to hear from one American who has undergone the procedure. This individual, Oliver North, has gone on record saying that...

* He has been waterboarded

* He waterboarded others

* "...none of us thought it was torture"

Obama, of course, refers to the technique as "torture", a word which brings revulsion to the minds of Americans. But might we now suspect another attempt by liberals to manipulate language to achieve desired results? For example: slaughter of the unborn becomes "evacuation of the uterus", pro-abortion becomes "pro-choice", murdering of the elderly becomes "mercy killing", and so on. So why not refer to "enhanced interrogation techniques" as "torture" since this single word will evoke the desired reaction?

This seems a fair conclusion, especially in consideration of the following...

* If this procedure was really torture, would we allow it to be used on our own innocent military personnel?

* If this procedure was really torture, would we allow our military personnel to use the procedure on other innocent military personnel?

* If this procedure was really torture, why don't those who have experienced it think it is torture?

Given these facts, it's hard not to conclude that the use of this term is just one more attempt to manipulate Americans using the power of language. It seems that the issue is not really about "torture" at all, but rather it is about the political agenda of liberals. This may be further evidenced by the musings of pro-lifers who have pointed out, "if Obama was genuinely concerned about torture why does he not care about - and even promotes - the torture undergone by the unborn in the womb...those helpless victims who can feel pain, who try to escape the instruments used to kill them...these helpless children who are routinely dismembered while still alive...?" Until Obama begins to show concern over the torture of innocent children in the womb, how can we believe he truly cares about torture? And finally, let's not forget that those innocent little ones tortured in the womb end up dead - unlike the criminals who are waterboarded.

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