You know, it's weird how the whole debate is about whether torture works or not. If I was given the authority to use genocidal methods against Muslims, I'm sure it would be effective in eliminating al-Qaida (along with the rest of the Muslim world), but it would still be wrong.
Torture isn't that effective at getting good intelligence, but that shouldn't be the issue.
I think it's embarassing that a World War II German interrogator had a better sense of the ineffectiveness and immoral nature of torture than a lot of people high up in our government (http://www.amazon.com/Interrogator-Luftwaffe-Schiffer-Military-History/dp/0764302612).
I think there are a lot of arguments being advanced which remind me quite a bit of the things Cleon said when trying to convince his fellow Athenians to massacre the population of Mytilene (http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.3.third.html).
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2006-09-28 10:54 pm (UTC)Torture isn't that effective at getting good intelligence, but that shouldn't be the issue.
I think it's embarassing that a World War II German interrogator had a better sense of the ineffectiveness and immoral nature of torture than a lot of people high up in our government (http://www.amazon.com/Interrogator-Luftwaffe-Schiffer-Military-History/dp/0764302612).
I think there are a lot of arguments being advanced which remind me quite a bit of the things Cleon said when trying to convince his fellow Athenians to massacre the population of Mytilene (http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.3.third.html).