Torture — Infliction of severe physical pain as a means of punishment or coercion.
Actually, real torture is awful. I just wanted to be provocative.
I believe exerting pressure on enemy combatants in order to extract information is sometimes necessary. What I mean by that carefully-worded statement is that yes, I “support” torture as a last resort method to save lives.
What do I mean by torture? Withholding food, depriving prisoners of sleep, letting them thirst a little bit, irritating them with foul odors and extremely loud sounds, offending their sensibilities, religious or otherwise, that kind of thing. Based on the definition of torture, what I support is not torture.
To some folks, it is. If a murderous thug of a man (who just happens to be Muslim and non-American) refuses to tell what he knows and is deprived of food until he sings, it’s considered torture to some people, especially leftist people. But they’re wrong:
Whereas the Baghdad detainees appeared to have been starved and were covered with lacerations and bruises, terror detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have bulked up from their three square Halal meals a day and are receiving sophisticated medical care—often the first medical care they have received in their lives. The Baghdad prison contained instruments of torture, like a medieval-style mace; the American rules for interrogation in every theater of conflict required that the detainees be treated humanely, and the authorities have investigated and punished any deviation from that standard. (Source)
Ah! Don’t forget about Harry Potter, Ms. Mac Donald. Iraqi prisoners were wild about the boy wizard. And they ate better than most of us do. Torture, indeed. Those men were treated better in American prisons than they ever will be again, the Abu Ghraib abberation aside. By the way, I think the whole panties-on-the-head thing, though sophomoric, was overblown.
I deliberately sidestepped the “Vice President of Torture” storm last week (Or was it a few weeks ago?) because the whole thing was silly, as usual. I doubt Dick Cheney advocates the wholesale physical torture of people, even terrorist Muslim thugs. Then again, what do I know?
I’ll let you read Mac Donald’s column and come away with your own conclusions, but I’ll leave you with this statement:
When the history of the war on terror is written, the strangest chapter will address why so many American intellectuals were so determined to believe the absolute worst about U.S. behavior.
I have three questions for you. Leftists can answer them, too:
1) Do you believe Americans should torture prisoners of war and enemy combatants for information?
2) For Christians in the audience, if you support torture, is there biblical justification?
3) Why do some Americans hate their country, one that allows them, ironically, the freedom to tell the world they hate their country?
Related items:
Update: From commenter Frank:
Modern interrogation techniques include the use of drugs – which is more humane and reliable than physical coercion.
Truth serum? (Veritaserum, for us Harry Potter freaks) Wicked!
Update II: Idiot American terrorist Jose Padilla is indicted. More at Malcontent, Counterrorism, and Debbie Schlussel’s blog.
