What, Why, Who
What is torture?
I will go along with the common definition, that torture is the application of physical or mental pain-inducing techniques to a person.
Why Torture?
There have historically been many reasons for torturing someone: to obtain a confession for a crime; punishment; revenge; to attempt alteration of their views; to obtain information; and pure sadism.
Who Performs Torture?
Many different groups of people worldwide regularly perform aspects of torture on others: police; intelligence agencies; criminal organizations; military troops; insurgents; terrorists; and, at one time or another in history, religious orders. It is a common act, although it is highly illegal in most Western countries. If the truth be known, it has been a "backroom" practice in many jurisdictions in the US and other Western countries, and it is kept from the public as far as possible. In recent years, excess use of force by police has been questioned and prosecuted, but no one really believes that such backroom practices have been fully stamped out.
Should The US Government Use Torture?
The answer to this should be a resounding NO! We must not condone the use of torture in our society. But, are there any exceptions to this? I believe there is an exception.
In this day and age of Weapons of Mass Destruction, terrorism, and acts of unbelievable horror and death to civilians, I believe a case must be made to permit torture of captured suspects who are thought to have a direct connection to terrorist organizations that have threatened the US population with WMD attacks. I do not know how to control this other than by case-by-case permission of the President himself, with no delegation possible, who would be acting to save, or attempting to save, US citizens from a devastating attack.
We have given the President the power to commit our armed forces into harm's way, which is also the possible or probable commitment of our men to death or wounding, and others to a similar fate, especially the enemy. Thus the power of life or death over many people is in his hands in any event. So, to me the power to use torture to potentially save millions of US citizens from WMD attacks is an obvious and necessary extension to the President's war and defense powers, ugly and repulsive as such acts are to us.
# posted by Mannning @ 1:03 PM
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