Is torture necessary?

[Ignignoct]

http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/04/29/jon-stewarts-extended-interview-with-cliff-may/

That is all.

 

[conquerworm]

"Christians" Get tortured daily in a lot of countries and on one cares. But Torture to save lives and people get all freaked out. Just goes to show how ignorant we humans are. Torture is not the issue. Torture shouldn't be needed in the first place but try to change 8 billions peoples World View for self focused to others focused, never going to happen. :S

 

[Kushan101]

Torture doesn't really work, people will admit to anything under torture. I can't imagine many extremists divulging much anyway - if they've prepared themselves to die in a suicide bombing, they already considered themselves dead. Torture will not dissuade them (I am assuming you meant it in the context of the current war on terror?).
Strangely enough, the original malleus malificarum ("witch's hammer" - kind of guide to the hunting of witches for magistrates) they discouraged torture because it is not an accurate method of ascertaining guilt.

Can't see the problem with it personally (providing you've got the right person) but for gaining intelligence, torture isn't the best way to do it.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

I'm not personally interested in a war against the middle east....I would however support a "re-education" of certain religious people and a re-writing of certain books so that they actually make sense in this world and have absolutely zero trace of 'anyone not in our religion is evil'.

Christianity and Islam are both guilty of this through and through...i say we simply let all the christians and muslims duke it out while the bhuddists, pagans, etc etc all kik back with some popcorn and take bets on how long before they realise we plan to purge them anyway.

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

-Ann Coulter

 

[Drummerstixz]

[/quote]And keep in mind two things people...
1 - Torture is not all physical, nor is it all brutal. The cliche "Good Cop, Bad Cop" routine is a soft form of torture. Solitary confinement is a rather effective form, sleep deprivation or starvation work, and let's not forget our chemical friends like Sodium Pentothal or Cisatracurium.

2 - One thing that is even more effective than torture, is the threat of torture (or in the case of someone already being interrogated, the threat of more painful torture). Some people crack just by being sat in a chair and stared at, others will respond to the presence of personal phobias such as needles, insects/rodents, fire, or other such tools. Multiple-suspect interrogation goes well with this. The second suspect sees what you do to the first suspect, he knows you're willing to do as you threaten, so when it comes to his turn, there is none of those "is he bluffing" thoughts going through his mind.

Kinda spun a little off message there, but yes, torture is necessary. Properly used, it can save lives, but if abused, it can get ugly. Legalizing it for government use in specific, well defined situations would be a good thing. Having it legal, and out in the open, means we can implement oversight measures to ensure it isn't abused, and proper training to ensure results. But doing it in secret the way it is now, is unreliable and uncontrollable.[/quote]


Thats a good point, i think that torturing someone emotionally or making them uncomfortable in their surroundings is probably more effective then cutting a limp off. Its interesting to see everyone say that this is inhumane and violates human rights, but lets not forget all the videos we have seen of terrorists slowly cutting off heads or kidnapping people and doing God knows what to do...Does everyone really think those people paused to think if that was inhumane?

 

[Eatbrainz]

well its a way of getting important information and as long as the newspapers keep their noses out its all good

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

admit you are a terrorist... admit you are a witch and a heretic

People will agree to and admit anything under the right torture, which doesnt mean what they are saying is actually the truth.

I would of hoped humanity had progressed beyond medieval barbarity by the 21st century

The only people they'd be torturing would be people they knew were terrorists, who they believed had information that could save many lives. I think in that situation, you certainly have to do whatever you can to get it out of them. Better them suffer then for thousands of innocent people to lose their lives.

You're assuming that they are all terrorists. These people may have been captured by the same sorts of people who airstrike civilians because they've mistaken fireworks at a wedding for anti-aircraft weapons being fired at them. People can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's too much scope for mistakes to be made to justify this treatment.

You need to realize that few people captured were tortured...and as far as air strikes for fireworks being mistaken as missiles? I really doubt it. The military isn't stupid.

I remeber seeing an article on the BBC news a couple of years back about civilian targets being accidentally hit by US airstrikes and how it was damaging the "hearts and minds" approach. Whilst I don't believe that the military as a whole is completely stupid, there are some stupid people in it, and the US military is known for having one of the highest friendly fire rates.

 

[timmytom1]

It depends,there 99% of the time i think it` unneesecary.However if anyone wants to introduece the Jonas brothers to waterboarding then i`m happy to look the other way (or just watch and laugh at their misey not sure yet)

 

[xXGeckoXx]

I agree, Im actually English but i believe that our government should do whatever is necessary to get important information. Bare in mind, that the people who are being tortured,may have done worse then that

Same....as long as there is very good reasoning behind the suspicions that this person was a criminal. That's all.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

IT DOES NOT WORK

The SAS don't think it works, MI6 don't think it works, hell- even the CIA don't think it works. Only the US Military 'Intelligence' thinks it works, and when was the last time they got something right*.


*I jest. They've obviously gotten things right before. We just never hear about it. But still, I'd trust MI6 over them.

Well said. All torture produces is false information from people desperate for the ain to stop.

Its an excellent means of punishment though. You wouldnt steal if the penalty was having your hand removed and you wouldnt murder if the punishment was to be lowerd slowly into a vat of acid

 

[Jerious1154]

Not at all. Who cares if it "gets information", if we let the terrorists dictate our standards for dealing with prisoners, they win. The fact that we respect the dignity and humanity of all people is what separates us from terrorists.

Besides, life is not like 24. The "ticking timebomb" scenario does not exist.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

IT DOES NOT WORK

The SAS don't think it works, MI6 don't think it works, hell- even the CIA don't think it works. Only the US Military 'Intelligence' thinks it works, and when was the last time they got something right*.


*I jest. They've obviously gotten things right before. We just never hear about it. But still, I'd trust MI6 over them.

Well said. All torture produces is false information from people desperate for the ain to stop.

Its an excellent means of punishment though. You wouldnt steal if the penalty was having your hand removed and you wouldnt murder if the punishment was to be lowerd slowly into a vat of acid

Or I'd simply overthrow the government. People are hardly so easily intimidated