A Republican I almost could be talked into torturing...

[Guest guest]

I'm no longer a big fan of debates, but I didn't think I could, in

good conscience, let some dangerous misinformation stand here.

Torture is not only unethical (it violates The Golden Rule for all but

perhaps the most committed masochist) and illegal (the Geneva

Convention, to which the U.S. is a signatory, unambiguously forbids

it), it does NOT work. Mr. Smerconish has simply been watching too

many episodes of " 24 " .

Anyone who has even just a cursory knowledge of the Hanoi Hilton

techniques and results should know that torture is ineffective as an

information-gathering technique. Or, why do you think innocent people

sign criminal confessions in many famous cases? Because after a

while, someone will tell you whatever you want to hear to make it

stop. The data is typically corrupted, unreliable and worthless. And

getting it that way corrupts the torturer in the process, as well as

his superiors, the Administration that sanctions it, and the nation is

purportedly protects.

To answer the question posed by our op-ed writing friend, Occam's

razor tells me: torture is used because it helps frustrated people in

power feel like they're doing SOMETHING, and--just like bullying--it

makes the torturer feel powerful and important in a really sick and

disgusting way. And, now that the Administration has arrogantly and

unilaterally suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus, it is used because

there's nothing to stop it.

Anyone who favors torture should first be subjected to it, to be sure

they still like the idea. Just like those who strongly advocate war

should first actually fight in one, rather than being Chicken-Hawk

mofos (and WE'RE the ones supposedly without empathy?!).

(P.S. Tom, when wrote that letter, he had in mind the famous

Temple Prostitutes that were very popular at Corinth. I don't think

he would have applied that same principle didactically to the

Praetorian Guard's treatment of prisoners. [Although, in my

experience, no one ever really follows it anyway])

D