tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post8634649559138412950..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Senate Votes to Bar TortureJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-90325338593368980382015-06-17T00:06:38.678-04:002015-06-17T00:06:38.678-04:00In the interest of fairness, despite my own person...In the interest of fairness, despite my own personal opinion, I do feel compelled to point out that such voting need not be "for" torture, per se.<br /><br />A vote against a ban <b><i>could</i></b> come with certain caveats - one might conceivably be in favor of keeping torture open as an available option but with some specific set of limitations, rather than prohibiting it entirely.<br /><br />After all, there are other objectively terrible things like waging war which we deem legal so long as it all goes through the proper channels. Logically there's not much difference between dropping bombs on people and torturing them for information - and some might argue that it's better to be tortured and alive than untortured and dead. I could easily see people of certain mindsets justifying torture in the same way they would justify declaring war. I would consider such people to be deeply misguided, but it's certainly not beyond imagining.<br /><br />All that said, I will point out that it has been repeatedly demonstrably proven that torture is completely antithetical to gathering intelligence. It does have <b><i>other</i></b> uses - it most certainly makes for an effective terror weapon capable of demoralizing your opponents - but that's the sort of tactic usually reserved for brutal totalitarian dictatorships, not for democratic societies.<br /><br />That said, this seems to me to definitely be a step in the right direction. I sometimes get cynical about politics and congress in particular, but it's refreshing to be reminded that they do still get some things done - even if they should have been done decades ago.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com