War and torture

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http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/editorial/2007/May/editorial_May14.xml§ion=editorial&col=

WAR is a fight, face-to-face. Where does torture have a role in it? Yet, well over a third of the US combat troops in Iraq “condone torture as a means to obtain information from insurgents”, as an American military study has shown. Worse, nearly one in 10 soldiers acknowledge mistreating civilians.

Strictly speaking, all is “not” fair in love and war. War has to be fought on acceptable lines of combat; and military training involves drills as to how to protect innocent civilians in times of war; and how to extract information from those held prisoners. Which is why no one expects wayward actions from military personnel. Their duty is as much to care for civilian security as to fight the enemy forces.

Granted that the situation in Iraq is not extraordinary, but also explosive. Yet, soldiers cannot be allowed to go berserk, even in the face of grave provocations. They must, in the least, demonstrate the merits of their military training. Torture is not the way.

Admittedly, Iraq is a hopeless case. The people, caught between the crossfire of the Occupying forces and the insurgents, is in the worst plight. There, virtually, is no hope of an early return to peace or normal life. New plans are not working. The 11-week special US troops operations in Baghdad has predictably failed to blunt the edge of insurgency; rather, the death toll is rising dramatically with every passing day.