I think FOX News did a pretty good job with the debate Tuesday night. It’s sad that the democrats are not allowing FOX to host any of their debates as they did a good job hosting this one.

I thought the most interesting part of the debate was the hypothetical scenario question:
“[There were] homicide bombings at three shopping centers near major U.S. cities. With hundreds dead and thousands injured, a fourth attack is averted when the attackers are captured off the Florida coast and taken to Guantanamo Bay to be questioned. U.S. intelligence believes another, larger attack is planned and could come at any time. How aggressively should the detainees be interrogated about the where the next attack might be?”

Although this is something we might watch on 24, it is a scenario that could happen in today’s world and McCain and Romney failed in their answers. Gilmore went the U.N. route and Giuliani’s was a little better than the three above, but the best answer was from Duncan Hunter.

McCain’s answer: “We could never gain as much we would gain from that torture as we lose in world opinion. We do not torture people,” he said. “It’s not about the terrorists, it’s about us. It’s about what kind of country we are. And a fact: The more physical pain you inflict on someone, the more they’re going to tell you what they think you want to know.”

Romney’s answer: You said the person is going to be in Guantanamo. I’m glad they’re at Guantanamo. I don’t want them on our soil. I want them in Guantanamo where they don’t get the access to lawyers they get when they’re on our soil. I don’t want them in our prisons. I want them there. Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is, we ought to double Guantanamo.”

Gilmore said: “First of all, let me say that I would go to the U.N., but it would be to state an opinion and to take advantage of our rights under international law, not to go ask for permission.”

Giuliani said: “In the hypothetical that you gave me, which assumes that we know that there’s going to be another attack and these people know about it, I would tell the people who had to do the interrogation to use every method they could think of. Shouldn’t be torture, but every method they can think of “I’ve seen what can happen when you make a mistake about this, and I don’t want to see another 3,000 people dead in New York or anyplace else.” He also said that could include waterboarding.

The best answer was from Duncan Hunter: “Let me just say, this would take a one-minute conversation with the secretary of defense,” Hunter said. “I would call him up or call him in, I would say to SecDef, in terms of getting information that would save American lives even if it involves very high-pressure techniques, one sentence: ‘Get the information.'”

Sen. John McCain knows all too well about torture as he spent five years as a POW in Vietnam. But, there is this thing called the Geneva Convention that has been in place which deals with the treatment of prisoners of war. The Geneva Convention (1949) says that in all circumstances the POWs will be treated humanely, including prohibition of outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment. Nonetheless, this was in place when McCain was a POW, but it did not stop his captors from torturing him and other POWs to obtain information. It has not stopped our enemies from beheading Americans who were captured.

If Jack the Blogger was the President and an attack like the one presented to the Presidential Candidates happened, then I would do whatever is necessary to obtain that information. I could care less how that would change others opinion about the USA or how it makes the USA look to other countries. The USA comes first to President Jack and the safety and security of my country and its citizens would always come first.