Comments on: Torturer says torture is ok http://polizeros.com/2007/12/11/torturer-says-torture-is-ok/ Musings on politics: anti-war, global warming, peak oil and otherwise Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:19:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: DJ http://polizeros.com/2007/12/11/torturer-says-torture-is-ok/comment-page-1/#comment-146246 DJ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:22:00 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/12/11/torturer-says-torture-is-ok/#comment-146246 Even if it is true, the ends do not justify the means. Torture is illegal-- and when we cross that line, we lose the high moral ground we're trying to protect. Andrew Sullivan has been making the case that torture, more often than not, results in false confessions and bad intelligence. That's the pragmatic argument against, but he's also fully aware that to stoop to such inhuman methods dehumanizes us. The questionm arises: what if 9-11 could have been prevented by torture? Would I save 5,000 lives by torturing one or two bad men? Absolutely not. Because it's a slippery slope: what if I could prevent terrorism by killing their families? Suspending habeus corpus? Eliminating the right to privacy? Pretty soon, we're no longer a democratic nation-- and the terorists would have accomplished their (stated) goal. My home state's motto is, "Live free or die," and I fully believe that. Freedom entails risk, and as much as I hate to see anyone become the victim of a terror attack (foreign or domestic), I believe that's preferable to institutionalizing our own brand of thuggery. Even if it is true, the ends do not justify the means. Torture is illegal– and when we cross that line, we lose the high moral ground we’re trying to protect.

Andrew Sullivan has been making the case that torture, more often than not, results in false confessions and bad intelligence. That’s the pragmatic argument against, but he’s also fully aware that to stoop to such inhuman methods dehumanizes us.

The questionm arises: what if 9-11 could have been prevented by torture? Would I save 5,000 lives by torturing one or two bad men? Absolutely not. Because it’s a slippery slope: what if I could prevent terrorism by killing their families? Suspending habeus corpus? Eliminating the right to privacy? Pretty soon, we’re no longer a democratic nation– and the terorists would have accomplished their (stated) goal.

My home state’s motto is, “Live free or die,” and I fully believe that. Freedom entails risk, and as much as I hate to see anyone become the victim of a terror attack (foreign or domestic), I believe that’s preferable to institutionalizing our own brand of thuggery.

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