Quote of the day, re: torture

[lwcon]

From Sideshow blog commenter thebewilderness:

(The key distinction) "between you and the guy you are torturing is that he might be innocent, but you are not."

(via)

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Wow

great quote. Gonna remember that one.

[NanceGreggs]

2. Ditto!

GREAT QUOTE!!!

[ThomCat]

3. That is absolutely true. I wish more people thought this way.

:(

[lwcon]

5. I'd love to be able to say it to...

... my former governor, Mitt "Double Guantanamo" Romney.

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[Phredicles]

4. 5th recommendation: Magnificent!

:applause:

[MasonJar]

6. That needs to be spread far and wide. Recommend!

[Land Shark]

7. And the key distinction between you as a non-torturing interrogator with a bomb maybe somewhere

going off in your city, and you not torturing only because the law doesn't legalize it (pretending here that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 didn't authorize any types of torture or inhumane treatment), and assuming as so many do that torturing to find the location of the possible bomb is the right thing to do, is the following:

(1) You as the interrogator are among the most reprehensible cowards ever born, not only can you not do to "the right thing" to save your own life, you can't do "the right thing" even to save the lives of yourself, your interrogation team, and the lives of the people in the city you live in, combined. And that's pretty low.

(2) You as the interrogator are selfishly unwilling to sacrifice for your country, even though millions have given the final measure of devotion (their lives), you are unwilling to even take a risk of going to prison for unlawfully torturing someone, which is a lot less than others were asked to give under other dire circumstances.

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To save on a response or two, I believe that the right not to be tortured is an inalienable human right we are born with, and no action of any government can modify that. See para. 2, Decl. Independence; see also Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[Usrename]

8. Sometimes the person's rights are more important than the person.

This seems to almost always be the case when viewing state-sponsored activities.

I think I get the gist of your post though. The same folks that argue that torture should be legal don't want to make breaking and entering legal. Even though it is concievable that a baby could be locked in a burning house and it might be necessary to break in to effect a rescue. Isn't that the same logic you are using?


I would hope no one would let the baby burn to death just because there is a law against breaking and entering. This whole idea of trying to prejudge certain actions and then write in exceptions to the law is sort of a ridiculous way to go about things, anyway. Why would anyone ever need a jury if we could do that?

[rhiannon55]

9. Wow. Excellent.

That would make a good bumper sticker.

[Hawkowl]

10. Zen

Outstanding perspective!

[progressoid]

11. Amazingly simple. Maybe even a couple RWers can grasp it.

[redqueen]

12. Wow... thanks for sharing that.

Fan-frickin-tastic.

[ProudDad]

13. K&R

Sanity at DU -- Oh, Happy Day!

[Truth2Tell]

14. Sucks to be this guy.....

"...Saddiq Turkistani, who had been imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban for five years because they suspected him of being an Israeli agent intent on killing bin Laden and then, when the Taliban were overthrown, was shipped off by the U.S. from the Afghanistan prison where he’d been held by the Taliban to Guantanamo Bay, where he’s been held for six years on suspicion of having been an al Qaeda agent."

[sutz12]

15. Man, does God hate that guy or what.... nt

[Truth2Tell]

17. Seahawks in 06

Not just NFC champs, but ACTUAL Superbowl champs.

Got screwn as bad as Gore IMO.

[lwcon]

16. Reminds me of Thurber's "Very Proper Gander"

http://forums.livingwithstyle.com/archive/index.php/t-11656.html

It's a big, wide, wonderful world, ain't it?

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[JDPriestly]

18. Excellent!