American Civil Liberties Union

You folks really ought to back off on this "torture" thing.More lives were saved by this method than were lost(none).Torture is pulling out finger nails,breaking bones one at a time,poisoning,searing flesh with hot pockers,etc.Why are you going after the very people who defend our nation?Are you trying to aid and abet our enemies or what?You have lost any and all of my support.

TORTURE OF BAD GUYS SAVES LIVES. LOOK HOW STUPID YOU ARE FOR NOT SUPPORTING TORTURE. PRETTY UNAMERICAN IF YOU ASK ME.

I tried to sign the petition but unless I donate a minimum of $5, I can't sign? What's up with that? I'm on unemployment. Shame on you ACLU!!!

The CIA briefed top Democrats and Republicans on the congressional intelligence committees on enhanced interrogation techniques more than 30 times, according to intelligence sources, who said those members tacitly approved the techniques which some Democrats in Congress now say should land Bush administration officials in prison.

Between 2002 and 2006, the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees "each got complete, benchmark briefings on the program," said one of the intelligence sources who is familiar with the briefings.

"If Congress wanted to kill this program, all it had to do was withhold funding," said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the closed-door briefings.

Those who were briefed included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and Rep. Jane Harman of California, all Democrats, and Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama and Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, all Republicans.

The Democratic and Republican staff directors for both committees also were briefed, according to the intelligence source and to a declassified memo released Wednesday that detailed some of the Senate committee briefings.

President Obama last week released a series of memos that were the basis for the CIA's program and that laid out specific tactics, such as sleep deprivation and waterboarding, and their release has pushed the issue of blame to the forefront of the political discussion.

Some Democrats and liberal pressure groups have called for Bush administration officials who wrote the rules allowing enhanced techniques to be prosecuted, saying the tactics amounted to torture. Mr. Obama and Mrs. Pelosi have both left the door open for such prosecutions.

Seeking the facts about congressional approval, Mr. Hoekstra, the ranking member of the House committee, sent a letter Monday asking National Intelligence Director Dennis C. Blair, a retired admiral, to provide an unclassified list of the dates, locations and names of all members of Congress who were briefed on the techniques.

"I believe their response was probably, 'Well, that's OK,' or otherwise they wouldn't have signed off on it," Mr. Hoekstra said when asked about other members who received briefings.

Members of Congress who were briefed have offered different recollections for what they were briefed on and what their responsibilities were for addressing the information.

Mrs. Pelosi has said she was briefed on waterboarding techniques only once, when she was ranking member of the House committee, and said that in that briefing CIA officials said they thought the tactic was legal and that the agency was considering using it.

"They come in to us and represent certain things. We can't talk to other people about it. We don't know whether it is true or false. We just know that it is a fact that that is what they have told us in these closed hearings and people hear different things in the same room, depending on their own experience," Mrs. Pelosi told reporters Wednesday.

Why is it that so many people forget that these prisoners are terrorists?
So what if they have been tortured! Do you really think they would give us any information without being tortured? I guess all you Goodie Two Shoes don't really care if we stop another attack on our soil. How many of our friends and family must die for you to feel better about torturing a few terrorists? Have you forgotten these terrorist are willing to die for Islam?
If they are willing to die Islam they must be willing to be tortured for Islam as well!
Lets move on. There are bigger fish to fry.

Hi Claudia: Sorry for any confusion, but there is no charge to participate in our petition.

When you sign the petition, the next page that appears is to thank you for sending the email. The page also has a request for a donation to support the work of the ACLU, but rest assured, your signature was added to the petition.

How do the people at ACLU sleep at night knowing that dredging up more images from Abu Graib, etc., and focusing only on techniques used to obtain information from terrorists (forget about the American lives saved from that information) all for political gain will only put our soldiers at more risk from crazy people with a twisted view of America that only gets more perverted by your craving for more attention. Oh, I forgot, you're not supposed to have a political agenda. Please think about the consequences of your actions. If you haven't spent time at a military hospital like Walter Reed, try it some time. Then, try to tell at least one story about all the good we are doing in the world.

You're Wrong on this one and it's coming across as a red driven, let's get revenge, witch hunt.

I can't believe this org is doing this to our country! The Civil Liberties Union needs to be reigned in a bit. You did notice that I left off the American part of the name. It's dishonorable to call this organization the "American Civil Liberties Union". Where were they when our guys are getting tortured over sea's, oh yeah right here in out safe country going after the folks that keep them safe, what a travesty. The CLU has lost it's way.

This really has nothing to do with torture but i don't know how to contact the correct people. I am a Senior at Valley Heights High School in Blue Rapids, KS.

Recently our school has decided to fire our jr. high basketball coach and a outstanding staff member. The majority of the student body including myself bought shirts saying Bring Bargdill Back.

We wore the shirts today seeing as how it is picture day in a form of protest to the school and to show our support for the coach.

The school officials have made the students turn the shirts around all day for every picture because it doesn't represent what the school is about.

it is the right of the students here to be able to wear these shirts in any picture that they so wish and as a part of the student body here i plead for someone to answer our plight

You people are horrible - the most anti-American group in history. We would be better off with the Taliban running the ACLU. You make me want to vomit with some of the idiotic stances you take. You, like Obama are so out of touch with reality. God help us all - oh sorry you probably have a problem with me using God...........

Since you are pursuing to release information pertaining to the abuse of terrorists. I was wanting to see the information that the Government has on Martin Luther King, Jr. that have been sealed for 50 years. Why can't you pursue that?? I know for a fact in Time magazine that He abused women. Why can't the infomation the FBI has on him be released. What you are doing is making our nation unsafe and allowing terrorists to do what they want, because they are not going to willing give us information. Why don't you release the information that was gained, like the one terrorist that was twarted of using a dirty bomb because of the information they obtained? If I knew that the known terrorist in front of me knew the details of a 9-11 attack, I would do everything I could to find out the details to save thousands of American innocent lives. Shame on you!!

Shame on you - you erased my blog. What's wrong, you don't like it when people disagree with your view - cowards!

You guys don't happen to have a petition to send Holder that requests that he drop all of this nonsense do you? Enhanced interrogations yielded valuable information that would have not otherwise been obtained. It left no lasting affects on the inmates. All of the terrorists were caught on the battlefield so there is no doubt about their guilt and terrorists are given NO protections under the rules of the Geneva Convention. In 2001, Jacgue Chiraq said that he would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against a nation harboring terrorists if France were attacked. France hasn't been attacked. Maybe we need to adopt a similar policy. I find it very sad that the ACLU goes to so much trouble and waistes so much money and time to protect people that wish us harm. The ACLU once served a needed purpose. Now they have to dream up things to give them a purpose.

I could not find my comment. Is that a form of free speech??

Hey ACLU - you suck!

I thought the heading was "Live Chats with ACLU Staffers on Torture". So far, the only response from an ACLU staffer was about how to sign a petition and donate money. I'm getting ready to plan a vacation and I was wondering if they could let me know if maybe a military prison might be an option once they're done with them.

Why am I suddenly reminded of a lynch mob on the Simpsons.

The ACLU is a total joke, If you dont want this county to torture some rag heads to save live here in the states,You should take all youe commy azzes and get out.

ACLU...If this continues...Your time will be coming.

all of you liberal attorneys should speak the truth at least when speaking.come on, come clean all of you that work at the aclu hate this country.the only people you low lifes represent are child molesters,illegals and terrorists.but my question is this if you hate this country so much why not leave and find another country that might except your garbage.

The A.C.L.U. must be seen for what it has always been Communism. It has always been bad for America, and should be dismantled entirely. Perhaps they could leave America and their relitives...the Taliban. With friends like the A.C.L.U. you don't need enemies.