EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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 Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:59 am Post subject: Torture is bad, says the General. |
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I was trying to find some old posts on Abu Graihb to add this to, but couldn't my contention when Abu G was new was that the president was at fault. He'd set the tone by allowing torture, renditions and dismissing habeus corpus. These actions are not lost on the men and women on the ground, nor anywhere else in the chain of command. It all becomes a nod-and-a-wink scenario.
Worth reading the whole thing.
It's Our Cage, Too
Torture Betrays Us and Breeds New Enemies
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...These assertions that "torture works" may reassure a fearful public, but it is a false security. We don't know what's been gained through this fear-driven program. But we do know the consequences.
As has happened with every other nation that has tried to engage in a little bit of torture -- only for the toughest cases, only when nothing else works -- the abuse spread like wildfire, and every captured prisoner became the key to defusing a potential ticking time bomb. Our soldiers in Iraq confront real "ticking time bomb" situations every day, in the form of improvised explosive devices, and any degree of "flexibility" about torture at the top drops down the chain of command like a stone -- the rare exception fast becoming the rule.
To understand the impact this has had on the ground, look at the military's mental health assessment report released earlier this month. The study shows a disturbing level of tolerance for abuse of prisoners in some situations. This underscores what we know as military professionals: Complex situational ethics cannot be applied during the stress of combat. The rules must be firm and absolute; if torture is broached as a possibility, it will become a reality.... |
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