Torture states love

[solarbird]

A brief history of the new bipartisan acceptance of torture.

Torture states hate being wrong, so make up reasons to send you to jail.

Torture states love redefining "private" to mean "not private."

Torture states don't really care about counterexamples, because effectiveness isn't the point.

Torture states take pride in torture. "Three Cheers for Waterboarding... Waterboarding is something of which every American should be proud."

Comments

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

The purpose of it is to scare and maybe even terrorize people you need information from

See, to me, that's pretty much the dictionary definition of torture. Otherwise you're arguing as to just how inhumane you can be, just how badly you can hurt someone -- is it OK if you provide medical care after, so they'll heal? What about if you do something really painful that has no chance of injury? -- before you're suddenly the bad guy. Rather than arguing how many bamboo slivers make the tortuous beard, I'd just avoid the issue completely.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

One of the better "decent right" websites out there is Evangelical Outpost, written by a guy who works for the Family Research Council, one of Solarbird's mortal enemies. But in this case, he's right: he is deeply ashamed that "my fellow Christians have ... treated an issue once considered unthinkable--the acceptability of torture--like a concept worthy of honest debate. But there is no room for debate: torture is immoral and should be clearly and forcefully denounced. We continue to shame ourselves and our Creator by refusing to speak out against such outrages to human dignity." (Go read the original; I do no violence to his intent with that ellipsis.)

The real horror here is the number of people who continue to support torture and try to turn the guy's words against him.

It seems to me that America is just acting like a big ol' whore here. You know the old Churchill joke: "Madam, would you sleep with me for a million pounds?" "Why yes!" "Then would you sleep with me for ten?" "What kind of woman do you think I am?" "We have established that. We are simply haggling over your price."

Ameria is haggling over the price of its soul. Banner just wants to bid low.

Banner is basically an eager officer in Room 101 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_101): the true torturer's art is not in leaving marks or inflicting pain, but in leaving the victim in such a state of compliance that they'll say and do whatever the torturer wants of them. The point of torture is not to extract information: everything we know says, contrary to popular opinion, "common sense," and Jack Bauer, torture does not extract information. It merely extracts compliance.

Waterboarding may well leave the body undamaged.

Banner doesn't care about a man's soul. Not even when he's wrong. (http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004068.html) ()