judd@wadsworth.org wrote:
> I find the actions of these terrorists just as abhorrent as you do.
I doubt that since as far as I have seen until just now you have done
nothing but defend them.
> Not to mention that such actions are counterproductive. If someone
> is tortured into confessing to a crime, it is always suspect.
Yes, but that isn't exactly what is going on, is it? What's going in is
called, if I recall correctly, the short time problem. You know something is
going to happen, something horrible, and you know that the person you have has
information that will stop it. Once that event passes their information is
useless. They won't give it up. What do you do? Do you let hundreds of
thousands of people die or do you get the information using all means short of
those that incur long-standing harm?
That's a decision that most people will never face in their lifetime and
yet they feel they are supremely qualified to judge those who are in the
unfortunate position to have to make that call.
Confession of a crime is about what they did. We don't need torture to
figure that out. We have all the time in the world to figure it out. What
they know about what will happen, that's a different matter. That information
is of limited value. We don't have the luxury of time.
That is why matters of war and especially of this stateless conflict are
not, and never have been, a police action.
So how would you handle the short-time problem? More importantly, have
you even thought to ask how other nations outside the US handle it? Or how
about the other side? Or are you just content to pass judgment on those who
have protected your right to pass judgment on them?
--
Steve C. Lamb | But who decides what they dream?
PGP Key: 8B6E99C5 | And dream I do...
-------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature