[Dean's World] Andrew Cory: More on torture

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Posted by Andrew Cory:
More on torture
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1191873225.shtml


   Let's acknowledge that waterboarding can cause death. Yes, it has to
   be done poorly, but it _can_ happen. Let us also acknowledge that
   while being waterboarded, I don't know if I'm in the hands of someone
   skilled (who thus won't kill me), and someone unskilled (who might
   kill me). How long would it take for me to confess that I... well,
   anything?

   Not very long. I promise: grab me at random and start torturing me,
   I'll confess to anything as long as you make it stop. Does that create
   actionable information on which my tortures can base future plans?
   Nope. That's why torture is inadmissible in a court.

   That's just one of the reasons we don't torture anyone. Even putting
   aside petty concerns of right and wrong, torture has too high a rate
   of false-positive. We end up sending our boys and girls around the
   world chasing the ravings of a man we've driven mad.

   Or maybe we grabbed the wrong guy. Perhaps we took someone who was
   innocent of anything, and are now [DEL: beating :DEL] coercing a
   confession out of someone who knows nothing. We're wasting precious
   time and energy tracking down bad information. We've just handed an
   important advantage to the terrorists.

   Perhaps we have other reasons for torturing people. Maybe we like the
   reputation we have gained for being a nation that treats our prisoners
   poorly. But there are other ways of getting information. The fact that
   torture was our first, last, and- so far-- only though is frightening.
   The fact that anyone could apologize for it more frightening still.