Watching Torture

Anything that threatens the perceived dependency and trust between the subject and interrogator directly threatens the value of interrogation as an intelligence-gathering tool. Even seemingly minor interruptions can have profound psychological impacts on the delicate subject-interrogator relationship. Any insertion of counsel into the subject-interrogator relationship, for example -- even if only for a limited duration or for a specific purpose -- can undo months of work and may permanently shut down the interrogation process. Therefore, it is critical to minimize external influences on the interrogation process.

By "external influences," he means the rule of law, the Geneva Conventions, the US Treaty obligations, and the Constitution. Marty goes on:

The Solicitor General even placed the Jacoby Declaration in the Appendix in the Padilla/Hamdi cases, and cited it liberally in support of its argument to the Court that the Administration should be entitled to detain persons not only for purposes of incapacitation, but also for purposes of long-term interrogations.

That is why, just as the Jacoby Declaration is the single most revealing document released by the government in the conflict against al Qaeda, so, too, the single most important sentence in any of the Supreme Court's decisions in the al Qaeda cases was a stark rejection of the government's rationale -- indeed, a remarkable rebuke to the Jacoby Declaration -- in Justice O'Connor's controlling opinion in Hamdi. After explaining at length that the laws of war and the Authorization for Use of Military Force permit detention for purposes of incapacitating combatants, Justice O'Connor wrote (542 U.S. at 521):

"Certainly, we agree that indefinite detention for the purpose of interrogation is not authorized."

No citation offered, because none should be needed. "Certainly."

Alas, certainty that we still live in a republic governed by the law is no longer possible.

The American public needs to see those images. And they need to see the images of dismembered Iraqi children caught in the crossfire of our illegal war. If they aren't willing to face the images, themselves, then they shouldn't be voting and paying for other people to do it. War is a last resort, and it should not be authorized lightly, especially not for the purpose of increasing corporate profits.

I find the comments here almost as horrifying as the story of the tapes. There's a reason why John McCain is against torture: he's been tortured. He knows what it's like, and he understands that it's wrong to do it. If your enemy is a monster who kills and tortures, how are you any different from him if you do the same to him? What if the reason you can't get information out of the person you're torturing is because they don't know anything, so they'll say anything? What if they were turned in by a neighbour who wanted to get back at them? What if you're torturing someone who has done nothing wrong? Then you are doing something every bit as evil as your enemy. This is why people feel that America has lost its way.

wdfsdfm

No information is worth becoming just as bad as the enemy.
Let the torture apologists show their sickness for all to see. Keep it up. Maybe we can round up these anti-American folks, that don't understand the value of the Constitution, and render them to some deserted island, and have every other country do the same with their sadists. Then, they can practice their sadism on each other to their heart's content.

Yeah ... Johnny boy ... we just have to talk nice to them and then they won't be mad no more ... we should give them a hug, maybe play a game of soccer and not keep score and always wear our helmets on the rail transit to cut down on our carbon footprint ... there it is the environment and world saved in one little paragraph. Of course, our biggest problem is you probably think that would work ...

Just how do you propose to obtain information from suspected terrorists who do not value human life, including their own, and cannot wait to spill as much infidel blood as possible along the way? I do not equate waterboarding or sleep depravation with removal of limbs, or our government (no matter how flawed) with that of dictators such as the Shah of Iran or Saddam Hussein. To do so is obscene and frankly indermines whatever point you were trying to make, Mr. Barry.

I am sick and tired of those in the media that keep criticizing without pointing out the obvious: not one single attack on US soil since 9/11. I can only surmise that our barbaric government and its CIA hentchmen are doing their job. But that doesn't deserve a line of commentary. If "give peace a chance" was a realistic approach to getting rid of dictators, torture and evil in the world, they would have been irradicated long ago. Diplomatic and political solutions, yes. But up to a point. And with the right people. You cannot reason or negotiate with someone who's litterally dying to die to destroy all of us and what we hold dear if not sacred, including your freedom to publish your "reflections" Mr. Barry..

More sadistic sociopaths come out for torture. It's good that these people reveal the true blackness of their heart so that their friends and neighbors know who they are associating with. America is better than these deviants.

Get over it. Certain things need to be done. If people cooperated there wouldnt even be tapes. It's a horrble brutal thing but its the only way to reach people who send their kids to suicide camps. Violence is the only thing they understand.

Get over it. Some things need to be done. Would there be torture if the person would just tell them the truth? Of course not. America can not stay above it because the terrorist scum would, and have, take advantage of our own rules. It's nice the hear that we are taking steps that get through to people who send their kids off to suicide camps.

Some of the comments here shows that the US has the same types of sick people that the current administration tries to pretend only exist in other countries. All torture is evil, no matter the pallid justifications attempted by the sadistic that against in every culture. Thankfully, most people in America are not demented sadists, such as the torture apologists that have come out of the woodwork lately.

And how should we obtain the information? Ask them politely?

Depravation of necessaries, making the prisoner uncomfortable, and threats are just a few ways to get the prisoner to talk. A high majority of intelligence is time sensitive. That is, we need to know it now for it to be useful. Again, I ask. How should we obtain the information?

John Barry wrote ???We assume it shows waterboarding,?????? Whose we? Here WE go with assumptions again. I???m surprised that Newsweek let this personal assumption be publish. Shame on Newsweek for sensational reporting. Guess I???ll start reading the Mirror (and other talbloids) for more serious reporting.

the "torture" afflicted by US CIA does not sound half as bad as being a pledge in any fraternity in the US. In fact, I'd welcome the CIA's treatment over that of a pledge...