tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post116313888489490973..comments2023-12-28T06:30:48.808-05:00Comments on The Rule of Reason: Coercion and torture in time of warUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-1163177147110292862006-11-10T11:45:00.000-05:002006-11-10T11:45:00.000-05:00Mario brings up two points worthy of consideration...Mario brings up two points worthy of consideration:<BR/><BR/>>The point is that it is crazy to allow your own government to include torture techniques in its arsenal, and to train men in torture, give them a tour of duty to warp their minds with it, and then release these men back into society.<BR/><BR/>I would agree, being an instrument of torture in war is not for everyone; but neither is being an instrument of death. Torture against the enemy in time of war and for the sole purpose of saving American lives would have to be explicitly deliberate, precisely focused and appropriately restrained. It would have to be part of a deliberate program to win victory against a ruthless enemy, and be limited only to captured enemy of important intelligence value who refuse complete and total surrender. At root, this is a choice between the comfort of an enemy, or the lives of our own. For clear moral reason, I choose the lives of our own. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, that is not how it has always been. My revulsion over the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal was not so much that the enemy was mistreated, but that his mistreatment was wanton and purposeless, save for aggrandizing the whims of a few low-ranking sadists. <BR/><BR/>>And these objections do not even begin to touch on the issue of how such a policy erodes the high-minded image the U.S. should be cultivating to "win the hearts and minds" of the world.<BR/><BR/>I respectfully disagree; we would signal to the world that we are willing to do what is necessary to win, and that we will not tolerate an enemy who acts against us in any way, even as a prisoner. War is hell, and the torture of high value prisoners until they reveal all their knowledge to us lets the world know that we intend to make our enemy’s lives hell until they choose to yield and take a path of peace.Nicholas Provenzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10926131141263622350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-1163174580032690412006-11-10T11:03:00.000-05:002006-11-10T11:03:00.000-05:00Not that this is any way to spend one's lunch brea...Not that this is any way to spend one's lunch break, but what Mr. Harrigan went through looks to me like playtime.<BR/><BR/>Let's see, <EM>as soon</EM> as he cried uncle, his friends in the L.L. Bean ski masks stopped. Now we all know what waterboarding looks like, right?<BR/><BR/>This stunt illustrates <EM>nothing.</EM><BR/><BR/>It is in no way immoral to torture terrorists. The point is that it is <EM>crazy</EM> to allow your own government to include torture techniques in its arsenal, and to train men in torture, give them a tour of duty to warp their minds with it, and then release these men back into society. And these objections do not even begin to touch on the issue of how such a policy erodes the high-minded image the U.S. should be cultivating to "win the hearts and minds" of the world.<BR/><BR/>By contrast, outright killing is entirely clean and defensible. Torture will come back to bite us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-1163148510073603962006-11-10T03:48:00.000-05:002006-11-10T03:48:00.000-05:00Because I was airborne in the USAF I had to go thr...Because I was airborne in the USAF I had to go through POW training. It's funny -- I went through it without a problem at the age of 19. It was just another thing I had to do, like filling out paperwork.<BR/><BR/>But now I look back at what I went through and I shiver. I could not do it now.Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.com