With Regards To Torture - What's Worse? What's A Bigger Deterrent?.....

[global1]

1. knowing the techniques your captors use in advance. Would this act as a deterrent to make a person not want to commit terrorists acts?

OR

2. not knowing what your captors will do to you?

Can a person prepare for torture? - like Dana Perino was suggesting in her news conference today. She said something to the effect if the techniques were made public the terrorists could prepare for them.

[PDJane]

1. It's a specious argument.

Torture is torture, it produces exactly what you want to hear. That's the point. Torture provides the justification for the "War on Turrer." It's not intelligence gathering, and it has never been about intelligence gathering. It's about getting statements from innocent people to support what you want to do.

[SteelPenguin]

2. Well we prepare our troops for it

I know the Navy SEALS do at least. I think more than just them.

I don't think torture is any form of deterent. If someone is willing to commit a terrorist act, they're generally willing to die for it, though not necessarily in the act.

So while I think terrorists could prepare for them, I'm more worried that the administration still holds to the incorrect notion that torture actually works. It doesn't. People will tell you what you want to know. A guy willing to die to kill you, would probably be able to withstand enough before he lied and gave you false information.

[atreides1]

3. How do you deter a fanatic

Do you really believe that torture would loosen the tongue of a person so fanatical in their beliefs, that they are willing to die for those beliefs?

If someone is willing to strap an explosive rigged vest onto their bodies and walk into a building full of people, do you really believe torture would make them give up anything that could be used by an enemy?

[TwilightGardener]

5. Ahhh!! Get out of my brain!!!

(see post below)

[TwilightGardener]

4. I'm sure the type of guys who are strapping bombs to themselves for Allah and virgins

really give a shit about our torture policies. Something tells me that a lot of the "terror" detainees at Gitmo and secret prisons ain't exactly the real deal--and neither is their information.