#FLASHBACK: For younger folks, I'm ashamed to admit that there in the early 2000's, during the Bush Administration, the U.S. military/CIA routinely tortured captured soldiers. @JoeBiden cut through all the crap & made a very simple point during the hearings in the aftermath:

This clip is from a hearing in June 2004, at the height of our invasion of Iraq. Here's an article about it from the time: https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.prisoner09jun09-story.html

That quote from Biden--especially the understandable anger through his gritted teeth--has haunted me for 16 years. This is the first time I've dug it up to re-watch, however. THAT'S the @JoeBiden I want as President of the United States, and that's who we heard last night.

Well this is blowing up a bit. To clarify: YES, torture is rightly illegal. And immoral. And unethical. And INEFFECTIVE. And it hurts morale. And it loses us allies. All of that was endlessly debated at the time. But Biden was the first one I heard who pointed THIS out as well.

Update: here’s a version of the clip with better audio:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4030612 

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