In my previous post, I agreed with Annika’s proposed Amendment on interrogation, which—in part—stated that enemy combatants and detainees “shall be subject to any treatment or technique of interrogation that works.”

Taking her humorous post seriously for a moment, would I really support the torture of enemy combatants and detainees by the American military?

First of all, let me qualify my answer by stating that I don’t believe the techniques used by the US Military amount to “torture” — playing loud music, sleep deprivation, exposure to rapid-and-extreme temperature changes, humiliation and degradation, or flushing or otherwise mishandling religious items does not consitute “torture”. Not even close.

If you believe that is “torture”, you should spend six months in a US Military prison, and then try six months in one of Saddam Hussein’s prisons.

If posing a bunch of islamofascists in a nude pyramid and taking pictures of them to distribute in their mosques, or if letting big German Shepards snarl and bark inches from their shivering and scared faces works — then by all means, keep up the good work!

I support the use of these types of interrogation techniques to break down and elicit information from enemy detainees. But I’ll go further than that: yes, I support the use of any treatment or technique of interrogation that works. Yes, I support the use of torture to get answers that might save American lives.

Why? Because it works.

Ace at Ace of Spades agrees:

You can be against torturing — or, as we’re actually doing, physically coercing — terrorists who intend to kill dozens if not hundreds of innocent people, and whose silence does in fact equal death.

But you cannot enter the debate with eyes closed. Torture works, and if you’re not willing to lay one unwelcome finger upon people who would maim and murder scores of civilians, you are required to justify your opposition in more nuanced terms than “hurting people is bad.”

Is it more immoral to twist an arm or subject someone to stress positions or to allow innocent civilians to be butchered? Excitable Andy [Andrew Sullivan] never seems to even consider the balance of harms.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Tuesday, November 15th, 2005 | Trackback |