Peter King: Bush 'Should Get a Medal" for Waterboarding KSM: A Reminder of What We Know

Congressman Peter King (R-NY) said Wednesday former President George W. Bush "should get a medal" for waterboarding Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM). Comforting words for conservatives coming from the man who may be the next Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee. Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) is calling for further investigations into treatment of terrorists during the GWB administration. Consider this: if we did not have KSM in custody, and did not know what we know today about his part in the September 11, 2001 attacks, where would we be today? What would Americans feel about knowing practically nothing about the day that changed this country forever? I can't imagine being completely in the dark about our attackers. Bring out the medal for George W. Bush.

Peter King

Bush said in his new book, Decision Points, that he ordered the waterboarding of terrorists, including that of KSM. While the news is old now, remember this:

KSM, as intelligence agencies call him, directed the September 11 attacks, which killed 2,978 people and injured at least 7,356. “I am the head of the al-Qaeda military committee,” he told Al Jazeera in April 2002. “And yes, we did it.” KSM wired money to his nephew, Ramzi Yousef, who masterminded the February 1993 World Trade Center blast that killed six and wounded 1,040. KSM and Yousef planned Operation Bojinka, a foiled 1995 scheme to explode 12 American jetliners above the Pacific. While some doubt his claim, KSM reportedly said, “I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl in the City of Karachi, Pakistan.”

U.S. and Pakistani authorities captured KSM on March 1, 2003 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. KSM stayed mum for months, often answering questions with Koranic chants. Interrogators eventually waterboarded him — for just 90 seconds.

KSM “didn’t resist,” one CIA veteran said in the August 13 issue of The New Yorker. “He sang right away. He cracked real quick.” Another CIA official told ABC News: “KSM lasted the longest under water-boarding, about a minute and a half, but once he broke, it never had to be used again.”

KSM’s revelations helped authorities identify and incarcerate at least six major terrorists: Read more.

A total of 90 seconds of terror for KSM. Years and years of grief that never goes away for the families and loved ones of those who died when the Towers fell. The site of the World Trade Towers 9/11 attack is in Congressman Nadler's congressional district, but he is not appreciative of the methods used to bring the attackers to justice. King, however, said Bush's actions "saved many, many lives," and he should receive "a medal," for doing what was necessary. If Nadler's loved ones had been in the Towers, would he still be pushing for an investigation of George Bush? There is one thing here that is true: waterboarding is scary - no doubt terrible for the one being waterboarded, but...let's face it, no one dies from waterboarding. Thanks to Weazel Zippers.