If Iran or Syria detained an American, Cheney is saying that it would be perfectly fine for them to hold that American's head under water until he nearly drowns, if that's what they think they need to do to save Iranian or Syrian lives.Dick "no-brainer" Cheney has spoken.
Tags: News, Politics, Torture, Dick
4 comments:
Why only until he nearly drowns? Other than that if he does, he can't answer any more questions, of course; though if you drown him in front of some of his colleagues as an object lesson to them of what'll happen to them, too, if they don't cooperate, than I can can see the point.
Seriously, if it's a 'no-brainer' to use I can't believe it's not Torture® to save American lives, I don't see the point of being squeamish about killing prisoners (or about how you kill them) to save your chap's lives, either.
That's why using torture, sorry, tough interrogation techniques is a very dangerous road, well-paved with good intentions, down which to embark.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Torture 101 is that the function of torture is not to obtain information, it is to intimidate the populace.
If you are being tortured, tell your torturers not what you know but what you think they want to hear. It will not save you but it may make your end quicker, which can be your only hope in a lost situation.
Dick has seen too many episodes of Twenty Four, I fear.
NS, I suspect the answer is acceptability. Dick almost certainly wouldn't be squeamish about killing prisoners, it's just that he knows it'd be politically unacceptable to say so. I'm pretty sure that the reason they do speak about this stuff is part of a deliberate effort to shift public opinion. A dangerous road, as you say.
abid, I would agree with you but for one qualification. I think Dick probably does genuinely believe that you can get useful information out of a person by torturing them.
As I said above, he's seen too many episodes of Twenty Four. Apparently, he has trouble distinguishing between the real world and fictional entertainment.
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