tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post6187418556248546756..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: The CIA's Torture RebuttalJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-84858942525401428772015-09-29T02:07:10.285-04:002015-09-29T02:07:10.285-04:00People don't like to believe that they did awf...People don't like to believe that they did awful, terrible things without sufficient reason. It tears at the psyche to contemplate the mere possibility.<br /><br />This is why countless Americans today still view the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the extended firebombing campaign of nearly a hundred other major Japanese cities, as having been "justified" or "necessary" - and this despite particularly damning evidence otherwise.<br /><br />The Japanese had lost essentially their entire navy and air forces by the time we began our firebombing campaigns. Our bombers frequently flew unescorted, in broad daylight, in formations of several hundred planes, at low altitude, with most or all of their armoring removed to free up weight for more bombs. We employed incendiary bombs, one of the single most universally reviled forms of warfare in history, and we did so against buildings whose construction was known to be uniquely flammable. We targetted civilian population centers, carpet bombing indescriminately, with little to no focus on precision against military or manufacturing assets, most of which had already been desroyed. And we did all of this continuously for over a year, in a tumultuous atmosphere of racism-tinged anger and desire for "revenge".<br /><br />The same old arguments get tossed out time and again. <i>"We saved untold American lives!"</i> is the perennial favorite, a claim espoused with a fervant certainty directly proportional to the lack of evidence to support it.<br /><br />Nevermind that the Japanese were reduced to such a state that they could not possibly mount a resistance by sea or air, leaving their beleaguered ground forces trapped on their home islands with defeat and surrender and inevitability. And nevermind that torture has been repeatedly shown to be a completely counter-productive method of intelligence gathering, and that we cannot point to a single potential threat that has been exposed and neutralized due to information supposedly gleaned from torture.<br /><br />But none of that's important! What's important is keeping America safe from all threats, real or imagined, by any means necessary - even those that don't work, aren't needed, or come at the cost of our integrity and morals!G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com