Rep. Rohrabacher: ‘I Hope It’s Your Families That Suffer’ From A Terrorist Attack

[Cirque du So-What]

from Think Progress:

Rep. Rohrabacher: ‘I Hope It’s Your Families That Suffer’ From A Terrorist Attack

Last week, a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee held a hearing on the Bush administration’s practice of extraordinary rendition, whereby hundreds of “terror suspects who had never been indicted for any crimes” have been abducted and flown to either secret agency prisons or to foreign countries such as Egypt or Syria where they are tortured.

Throughout the hearing, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) aggressively defended the U.S. rendition program and attacked the witnesses, three members of the European parliament, who testified that rendition actually hinders prosecutions of terrorists.

Rohrabacher told the witnesses that Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann would still be alive if they were in charge. He said the witnesses were free to doubt the motives of U.S. rendition since “I know there’s a lot of people who hate America.”

At one point, Rohrabacher argued that imprisoning and torturing one innocent person was a fair price to pay for locking up 50 terrorists who would “go out and plant a bomb…and kill 20,000 people.” When members of the audience groaned, Rohrabacher said, “Well, I hope it’s your families, I hope it’s your families that suffer the consequences.”

more...

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/24/rohrabacher-terrorists/

Rohrabacher had better hope that karma is a mythical concept. This is probably the most hideously misanthropic statement I've ever heard uttered in Congress!

[donco6]

1. I hope HE'S the "one person imprisoned and tortured."

Wonder if that would change his tune.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Interesting parallel in citing Eichman under the circumstances.

Rohrabacher told the witnesses that Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann would still be alive if they were in charge.

Adolf Eichman had been living in Argentina as a private citizen. The Israeli intelligence agency located him and sent its agents to kidnap him. The Israeli government did not go through diplomatic or international avenues to have Eichman handed over to face trial for Nazi war crimes (and not in the Hague, but rather, in Israel). The agents smuggled him out of Argentina and brought him to Israel.

However, Argentina never did demand that Eichmann be returned. The Israel Foreign Minister at the time and future Prime Minister, American-born Golda Meir, apologized on behalf of her adopted country for the breech of law, but said that in this case, a violation of law was justified.
http://www.remember.org/eichmann/study3.htm

And in the spirit, if not the prototype of rendition, Eichman was tried in Israel, convicted of war crimes, and executed by hanging. So there is precedence in history of rendition in the name of "justice".

And BTW, I resent Rohrabacher invoking the spectre of antisemitism if his critics challenge his support of rendition. It's bad enough to have one's patriotism suspect, but add on "Jew Hater" and the dialogue is certain to stop.

[Toots]

3. Who was it that said "I would rather a thousand criminals go free than one innocent man imprisoned"?

A much better mind than Rohrabacher's I'm sure...:shrug: Why is it that most Republicans are just so repugnant? True "family values" on display for sure...

[Lobster Martini]

4. Oh, 50 to 1 is the ratio

Pardon me, I am still slapping my forehead to dislodge the stupidity of Rohrabacher's comment from my traumatized brain. So, if you have a hundred terrorists, you get to torture two innocent people; if you have two hundred terrorists, you get to...you get my point. Stunning.

[Buns_of_Fire]

5. Okay. And *I* hope Dana Rohrabacher's dick falls off.

In public. Right after a committee meeting, while he's walking out the door. Just rolling down his pants leg, his little shrivled-up thingie left lying on the floor for passersby to wonder what the hell it is. Finally, someone will say, "Why, it's Dana Rohrabacher's little pee-pee!" And much hilarity will ensue.

[rasputin1952]

6. Who would he play with if "Little Pete" were to depart?

:D

Those who call for torture are indeed moronic assholes, but those are also the cowards who would give up everything in split-second if they were even threatened. Hiding under the covers, waiting for the bogey-man to go away, instead of getting up and dealing w/the situation face to face. People like this disgust me to no end...they have no concept of Justice, they have no concept of what morality is, except that it is the same old mantra of fear and ignorance...x(

[johnfunk]

9. What dick?

"Yes. It's true. This man has no dick."



Looks like a fine product of inbreeding, don't he...

[EFerrari]

7. He was only one of the worst. The whole committee

was talking about KIDNAPPING and TORTURE with much too much ease. It's the creepiest thing I've seen since the Black Caucus couldn't get one senator to stand with them to contest the stolen election.

[johnfunk]

8. Remember -- Rohrabacher cozied up to the Taliban

He was -- no kidding -- their best American pal when they took on (and defeated) Soviet occupation.

So when Rohrabacher says he hopes your family suffers from terrorism, chancesd are he could make a phone call and find the right terrorist to do the job.

I would love to see this Islamist-coddling bastard defeated in 2008, or at least strongly challenged and discredited in the natrional media spotlight -- isn't there an Iraq vet in his district ready to run, take on Dana and go full-throttle smashmouth on this terrorist-loving bastard?