Bigthink - Idea Comments Feed

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:17:41 +0100

"if you torture a man long enough, he'll tell you he started the Boston fire, but that doesn't necessarily make it F**** so" Reservoir Dogs

Simulated drowning sounds like torture to me, I certainly wouldn't want it used on me or anyone I know. I think the most damning example I know of, is that the Japanese used waterboarding on Americans during WWII, and the Japanese that carried it out were tried and executed for torture. Yet waterboarding now is ok and not really torture, it's just aggressive interviewing.

I can understand where Mr Dershowitz is coming from, that if it is going to be sanctioned by the government then the least the Law society can do is put forward parameters and guidelines for its use, just like the death penalty. Otherwise it is open to abuse.

Unfortunately, I think the abuse is already there. When fighting monsters it is hard not to become a monster yourself. And, even if the opposition has guns and might shoot us, we should continue to maintain the moral high ground rather than seeking to outdo each other in atrocities.

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:34:55 +0100

My apologies board members, I meant to write: "As to the credibility of the information derived from torture it is equivocal at best......"

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:30:13 +0100

The grey area over the arguement of torture appears to center on the degree of immediate threat and the necessity of vital information, the definition of which appear to be subjective and ill defined at best. As to the credibility of the information derived from torture it is unequivocal at best - and with this should not be used as credible. Since it is not unequivocal it should not be utilized as a stratagy to base actions upon. If this is the case then the acts themselves have to be viewed as both illegal and immoral.

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:08:45 +0100

This intellectual tolerance of current US state-sponsored torture is disgusting. Does the Professor also agree with the current state-sponsored kidnap and detention without trial on the basis that the end justifies the means? See the Wikipedia article on utilitarianism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism Where does this way of thinking end? I would argue that it eventually results in Nazi gas chambers and mass extermination. He is also na�ve about the success of torture. Would an atomic suicide bomber really worry about a couple of hours of torture before ascension to paradise?

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:06:42 +0100

I would rather be water boarding.....remember Lawrence of Arabia...take no prisoners....works for me

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:50:43 +0100

The USA has lost all of its reputation for Human Rights

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:53:18 +0100

Citizens of the United States may be under-estimating how their country has been one of the very few sources of hope for people around the world hope in this last century.

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:53:00 +0100

At the end of the second world war, while faced with the most extreme scale of torture and genocide ever witnessed, the United States insisted to give suspected war criminals a fair trial instead of just executing them. Today this upholding of human rights is lost. It makes our world a worse place. The United States has shifted from a beacon of hope to a source of terror and injustice.

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:12:09 +0100

I agree. If any other country torturing detainees the US would be the first country condemning their actions.

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:24:04 +0100

Without disagreeing with Pr. Dershowitz, I am concerned about allowing torture under the "minutes till he blows up New York" exception. It seems to me the exception could devour the rule if good-faith mistakes by the government are allowed, since then they will always be claimed. I prefer no exceptions written into law, with special circumstances used in mitigation of sentence.

Comment on: Re: How do we address the question of torture?

Bigthink — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:46:47 +0100

I agree