Torture
2007-09-28 17:26:30.52562+02 by ebwolf 0 comments
I guess all love affairs end... My recent admiration of The Economist just took a major turn for the worst:
The Economist...accept[s] that letting secret policemen spy on citizens, detain them without trial and use torture to extract information makes it easier to foil terrorist plots. To eschew such tools is to fight terrorism with one hand tied behind your back.
-The Economist September 22nd, 2007. P. 18.
Sir: I find your statement on page 18 of the September 22nd issue favoring torture both illogical and morally reprehensible. Torture does not yield reliable information. Action based on torture-sourced information is largely wasted effort. Similarly unreliable information is precisely what has lead the US into the murky quagmire of Iraq. As for the moral stance, I believe Anthony Hopkins' Capt. Bligh in "The Bounty" said it best: "No Sir! We were born as civilized men and we shall die as civilized men." A civilized death is preferable to life in a society where citizens are treated as criminals and torture is acceptable.