Don't Torture

Countdown to Invasion: 1 day.

I'm no expert on torture and interrogation, but this article decrying possible US torture or excessive coercion (or "rendering", allowing allies to do so), states one fact that I had long read was true: "officials who defend the renditions say the prisoners are sent to these third countries not because of their coercive questioning techniques, but because of their cultural affinity with the captives. Besides being illegal, they said, torture produces unreliable information from people who are desperate to stop the pain." Aside from the fact that there should be lines we should not cross, torture is not effective. No, we should not have to treat prisoners like guests at 4 star hotels, and I have little sympathy for those who say they should have Miranda rights. But morality must have a place. Torture is not a matter of being tough. Yes, some will say, but what if the captive knows where a nuclear bomb is going to go off in 6 hours? Wouldn't you torture then? Well, yes, under those circumstances, of course. But the need to go to such an extreme example should tell you something. What short of that justifies torture? The French were torture-happy in Algeria and it did not work. As the official above said, torture is not effective. An al Qaeda under torture will admit to being the second gunman. How many resources will we waste tracking down confessions to anything to stop the pain?

Stop short of torture. It is right and it is more effective.

On the pending Iraq war, I've seen nothing that indicates it is imminent. No apparent airlifts of troops. No open mobilization. No President revealing the "gotcha" evidence to the UN Security Council. Could we have quietly shipped that stuff in by sea over the last year and kept it secret because the military knows people will look for the obvious signs? Lots of equipment is there and we have declared them in material breach (announced by Powell no less, who the Europeans hoped would restrain the war).

I'm still holding tomorrow as D-Day though I have (and never had) anything concrete to go on-just a hunch and what I'd do. But then, I thought obvious signs would be on the news by now, albeit disguised as meaning nothing now. I'll be really impressed if tomorrow night the news reveals we have attacked.

If not, I still don't see why we should wait for the Blix report. I can't believe we would wait until then.

I really have to write on North Korea. Very disturbing situation to say the least.