The Torture Debate--Why Is It Necessary?

I never cease to be amazed at the arrogance and incompetence that engulfs every policy or proposed policy that the Boosh administration puts forth, or that it chooses to support or not support. I could spend 24 hours per day for the rest of my life and merely scratch the surface of the idiocy surrounding this group. The current torture debate, if that is what you want to call it, is no different.

President Boosh has recently been continually quoted as saying, "We (the USA) do not sanction nor do we use torture on ANY prisoner, under any circumstances." If this is the case, why then, is his Vice President secretly twisting every arm he can grasp in an attempt to exempt the CIA from being part of any anti-torture language in the McCain bill denouncing torture or inhumane treatment of "prisoners?"

TORTURE DOES NOT WORK

As an investigator who has questioned countless numbers of people during my career, I can state unequivocally that torture or inhumane treatment of targets does not work, period. Most investigators, be they private, government or military experts, agree with me on this. First, any information that is gained through torture or inhumane treatment, cannot be relied upon with any degree of certainty. It has been proven time and time again that when one is subjected to torture they will say whatever the interrogator wants them to say, simply to stop the mistreatment that they are suffering. This fact is indisputable, and backed by years of research. The truth of the matter is this. You have different groups of people that react differently to given situations. During an interrogation or interview, one group will tell you exactly what you are attempting to find out by being given something as benign as a candy bar. Other groups will tell you everything that they know because they believe so strongly in their cause that they don't mind telling you about it. They want to be seen as being in the know of valuable information, and will share it with you just to prove that they are important cogs in the wheel. Others will tell you nothing but lies, even if telling you the truth would be in their best interests. Finally, you have a group of people that will tell you nothing, no matter what means you use to extract information. There are countless examples of members of each of these groups.

Credibility Issues

I find it interesting, actually pathetic, that we are even talking about this issue. In light of the debate that is currently ongoing surrounding the faulty intelligence that was used to justify the run up to war, it seems that the torture issue is simply more of the same. We are setting ourselves up to again act on misguided intelligence. We, as a government and a nation, have lost all credibility regarding intelligence matters. Advocating torture, or refusing to denounce it with anything but hollow words, will only add fuel to the Anti-American, specifically Anti-Boosh sentiment that is currently shared around the world. If we in fact "...do not sanction nor do we use torture on ANY prisoner," why not simply add the amendment to the current bill? By not adding the proposed language, we are in fact admitting that we condone such actions. The answer is obvious. We, in fact, Do Sanction and Do Use Torture to exact information from suspects on this phony war on terror, a war that was dreamed up and created by a madman President and his group of "angry old men." The fact that torture is not an effective means of obtaining accurate information allows one to speculate that we went to war based on faulty intelligence, perhaps gained by these very means.

If We Use Torture, What Happens to Our Troops?

When we refuse to place language in a bill that specifically states that we will not resort to torture or inhumane treatment of prisoners and detainees, we should expect that our own prisoners and detainees will suffer the same fate. President Boosh running around saying that "we don't condone torture" is not nearly enough to prevent our own prisoners from being tortured. What Boosh, Cheney and the neocons do not yet understand, in defiance of all logic I might add, is that NO ONE IN THE WORLD BELIEVES ONE WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF BOOSH OR ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THIS ADMINISTRATION. And rightfully so. Their willingness to lie, decieve and cover up misdeeds, has been demonstrated to be the norm rather than the exception for this entire group of out of control thugs. Hell, a large majority of Americans no longer trust what they say, so why would the world body? The fact that no Boosh or Cheney family members are prisoners of war or held captive in some secret foreign hideout, does not justify the inevitable poor treatment that American detainees around the world will likely suffer. This treatment will occur if we do not loudly and resolutely denounce torture as an option. Instead of denouncing it, we are in essence sanctioning it, by having Cheney so desparately try to have the words removed from the amendment.

Again, merely having this discussion shows how out of touch with reality that this entire administration really is. We live in a dangerous world, at a dangerous time, and are being led by a group that is possibly the most dangerous cabal in the world today. Forget worrying about terrorist attacks, being blasted by a nuclear weapon fired by some country made up in the minds of our leaders, forget drugs, forget homelessness, forget our failing schools, forget it all. The only thing that we should not forget, and should fear, is what is happening in Washington D.C and the path of destruction that our leaders are taking us down.