The Lawyer and The Caterpillar

I hope people picked up on the sarcasm of my previous post. Here's some more:

How much do I love America? I love America so much that I'd drown a defenseless man tied to a piece of wood. No problem. I'd be honored if my country asked me, little ole me, to stick a man in a small room where he can't even sit down for 11 days. That would be the greatest moment of my life.

That torture is even being discussed or that it ever occurred goes beyond everything this country stands for.
While it may be imagined or rationalized as a means to an end, the fact is torture is one thing that has characterized the most despicable regimes in history. Those regimes are remembered for their lack of humanity, and for nothing else.
That America took torture as policy moved this country closer to an identity we had previously deplored not just in our eyes but in the eyes of the world. As a result we have lost all credibility as the champion of human rights.

As a side note just so you know, if you make an ethical statement (They oughta, they should, etc) it has to work in all cases. In other words you can't say, "they should be able to break the law because they were trying to keep us safe" Then all laws can be broken in the name of keeping us safe. Freedom of speech can be taken away in the name of keeping us safe, etc. If you make an ethical statement, it has to work in ALL cases. Please don't forget this, it's very important to discussions such as this.


And lastly, we have the conundrum of torture actually being an effective technique. Guess what..........it's not. Any study ever done on torture has proven without a doubt that torture has a very low success rate. The average being a percentage in the single digits. Apparently, when tortured people will say anything to make you stop. What is said is almost never true or relevant (again refer back to us more often than not torturing people who are not even involved in what we're interested in). So now we've broken moral law, international law, national law, and have gained NOTHING!

Yes, torture is so effective and beneficial for the long term objectives of our country. If you believe that, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

1) The documents provide compelling evidence that the Bush Administration planned and approved interrogation techniques that are clearly torture.

2) There is no credible evidence that the use of torture during the Bush Administration ever saved a single American life or prevented a single terrorist plot. Let's not be naive. Cheney saying so does not make it true.

Some of interrogators themselves have gone public stating that every confession made under the duress of torture proved to be bogus. People will say ANYTHING under these conditions; mostly they will just make stuff up.

Of course, it's entirely possible that the primary motivation for these abusive practices was vengeance against anyone who resembled or was loosely associated with those who committed the atrocities of 9-11, in which case the Bush regime accomplished its objective.

3) The U.S. signed international agreements and has passed laws, affirmed by the Supreme Court, prohibiting the use of torture during interrogations of detainees. The agreements do not have an asterisk that says "except when it's done by the U.S. against people that we suspect are bad guys".