tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post4238806523094301681..comments2024-01-17T16:51:31.413-06:00Comments on Right-Wing & Right Minded: I Thought "Torture" Didn't WorkChristopher Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422080978963114933noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-50258034290690532982009-04-24T09:12:00.000-05:002009-04-24T09:12:00.000-05:00Dang it. Hit publish before I was done. Torture ...Dang it. Hit publish before I was done. Torture is in the eye of the beholder. What you consider torture others don't. And vise versa.Christopher Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07422080978963114933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-36774870051440810082009-04-24T09:10:00.000-05:002009-04-24T09:10:00.000-05:00If these people are physically compelled to answer...<I>If these people are physically compelled to answer, when regular questioning doesn't work, how is this not torture?</I>If we go by that reasoning, then just about anything could be called torture. One story of an interrogation was, and I'm not sure if it did happen or they were going to do it, was they found out one of these guys was afraid of bugs so they did or were going to put a caterpillar in his cell with him to try and get him to talk. Is that torture?<br /><br /><I>If this quest is not guided by a strict set of moral principles, what makes america any better than the people they seek to stop?</I>Because we don't behead journalists like Daniel Pearl or try to wipe an entire group of people off the face of the planet or kill hundreds of thousands of people for opposing our government or devise a plan that calls for flying four planes, full of people, into buildings, full of more people.Christopher Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07422080978963114933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-72425577232932556622009-04-23T21:04:00.000-05:002009-04-23T21:04:00.000-05:00"Why do it if it is not an effective means of coer..."Why do it if it is not an effective means of coercive interrogation? But it is. Obama's own National Intelligence Director says it is. The CIA says it is."<br />Yeah. Yeah. I know. That was a rhetorical question that I'd hoped you'd not take out of context, and concede that waterboarding and similar practices have to be considered torture by any real measure of the word.<br />If these people are physically compelled to answer, when regular questioning doesn't work, how is this not torture?<br /><br />As for the quest to kill Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and KSM - sans morals. If this quest is not guided by a strict set of moral principles, what makes america any better than the people they seek to stop?<br />Remember, one of the things that most brutal dictators have in common is squads of people who snatch people up and torture them... allow torture, give up on moral principles, and how is america any different than the bad-guys you listed?<br /><br />As for MadamRude's affirmation 'torture is good', do you think you've done enough to depersonalise the potential victims with all that stuff about filthy apes and pigs etc?<br />Or do you naturally arrive at the position that 'if my enemy is evil, then it's OK to be evil in return'? I'd like to be able to say that it's a very Christian thing to do - you know 'an eye for an eye', but Jesus was very clear about that kind of thing. Is america still 'one nation under god' or does that go out the window at the first sign of trouble?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15807254525401626430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-2220705963673270922009-04-23T20:52:00.000-05:002009-04-23T20:52:00.000-05:00I do not believe it is torture, but if by anyone's...I do not believe it is torture, but if by anyone's definition it is deemed as such - then torture the hell out of those people if there is reason to believe they have information that may save lives.BetteJohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11650981249204116251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-30979311324577398262009-04-23T18:00:00.000-05:002009-04-23T18:00:00.000-05:00Why do it if it is not an effective means of coerc...<I>Why do it if it is not an effective means of coercive interrogation? </I>But it is. Obama's own National Intelligence Director says it is. The CIA says it is. If waterboarding stops an attack, which it seems to have done in Los Angeles, then it was worth it and should be done more often. We got info that stopped an attack and we understand al-Qaeda better. So, yes, it does speak for itself.<br /><br /><I>So what's america been fighting for in all these countries over the last three or four decades for if morals don't count?</I>To take out people like Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and KSM and prevent them from killing more people. Sadly, we're not always successful.Christopher Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07422080978963114933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-20421210304581150742009-04-23T16:11:00.000-05:002009-04-23T16:11:00.000-05:00I agree with you. If these maniacal, homicidal, Al...I agree with you. If these maniacal, homicidal, Allahists have no fear in beheading one of us (recall the images of Daniel Pearl) then I have NO problem with the US - or any other country these murderous pigs terrorize - extracting as MUCH info, just short of killing those filthy apes - as possible, by use of ANY interrogation methods we can dream up! <- Run on sentence means, I'm adamant in my statement.MadamRudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16646184375768113264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-45235860392563563392009-04-23T14:15:00.000-05:002009-04-23T14:15:00.000-05:00I'm curious, how does releasing this information e...I'm curious, how does releasing this information endangers our national security? Especially if we are not going to using these practices in the future?<br /><br />Why would they use these practices when just about every study ever conducted proves that torturing people does not give us reliable information. Why would they use these practices if we've convicted enemy soldier for doing the exact same thing to our soldiers in the past?<br /><br />If you really want to endanger our national security, I would suggest invading another country and killing thousands of their women and children.christopher Ronkhttp://quickmerchantcashadvance.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5814418.post-46284554313243772412009-04-23T13:00:00.000-05:002009-04-23T13:00:00.000-05:00"Waterboarding is not torture"
OK, if it and simul..."Waterboarding is not torture"<br />OK, if it and simulated drowning aren't torture, then there should be no problem giving the practices up.<br />I mean, if it ain't nothing, then no need to do it, right? <br />Why do it if it is not an effective means of coercive interrogation? <br />However, if these practices are means of coercion that compels suspects to give-up info...<br />res ipsa loquitur.<br />If it works like torture, then it's torture, but if folks laugh it off like it's nothing then fair enough... but you can't have it both ways.<br /><br />"I would rather this country lose it's morality"<br />So what's america been fighting for in all these countries over the last three or four decades for if morals don't count? <br />...to be the last thugs standing?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15807254525401626430noreply@blogger.com