Originally posted by platosallegory
To call the things in this memo torture is a danger to our country. This is not torture in any way, shape or form.
Yes, they are torture.
any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a male or female person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions.[1]
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Originally posted by platosallegory
If liberals don't want waterboarding, loud music, bugs in room or any discomfort for terrorist that have information about future plans that could save lives, how will they get any information?
Why does this have to be about liberals? There are people from all ends of the political spectrum who are disgusted with torture. Just because you consider yourself a conservative and you think we should torture doesn't mean all conservatives think like you do. And it also doesn't mean all liberals disagree with you. I can't believe someone would attempt to derail their own thread in such a manner, unless they truly wanted their topic to degrade into yet another silly left vs. right bicker-fest.
And its already been largely proven that torture is an ineffective way to get information from detainees:
U.S. intelligence officers say they have little—if any—evidence that useful intelligence has been obtained using techniques generally understood to be torture. It is clear, for instance, that Al Qaeda operations chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. His interrogators even threatened, à la Jack Bauer, to go after his family. (KSM reportedly shrugged off the threat to his family—he would meet them in heaven, he said.) KSM did reveal some names and plots. But they haven’t panned out as all that threatening: one such plot was a plan by an Al Qaeda operative to cut down the Brooklyn Bridge—with a blow torch. Intelligence officials could never be sure if KSM was holding back on more serious threats, or just didn’t know of any.
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All we accomplish by torturing is destroying the American way of life. If you can't see that, then you're a traitor to your country.
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