We're better than this...

Torture is not an American value... right? I'm hoping that's what we believe, but it's easy to understand why you might pause a second to answer with the way we've rationalized torture in the past 5 years or more. Hell, we redefined torture in the Bybee memo to be specifically intended to inflict exteme pain equivalent to organ failure or death. But if you think that it's all "lefty whiners" that are crying about torture because they just don't understand how important it is to our protection, maybe you should read what a Special Ops interrogator had to say about it Sunday in the Washington Post. Not only does it severely erode our moral standing in the world, but according to this military professional it does far more. It brings recruits to the Jihad, and leads to the death of our soldiers. Add that to the many reports that doubt seriously whether torture actually leads to reliable information, or just the best thing that comes to mind when you're in pain or fear. Again, it's not just pacifists arguing against torture, it's often military intelligence and law enforcement officers . It's not enough to believe that something really horrible is necessary and effective, you damn sure better have an overwhelming amount of evidence in your corner. In this case, it's looking less and less like the trust and latitude that we gave some of our leaders was warranted, eh? Take a look at this site which has some unfortunately disturbing photos and links documenting some pretty grisly stuff.

Comments

[Dashus]

HOLY SHIT!