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comment by Cumol
Cumol  ·  3636 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Even If Torture Doesn't Work In The Real World, TV Has Us Convinced It Does

    ...but they should be held accountable for failing to use the best methods for information discovery when they had every chance to.

So, in a hypothetical world where torture IS a good method to get real information out of terrorists. Would it be okay to torture terrorists?

Do we charge a CIA agent or officer who had the chance to torture a (possible) terrorist for information but decided against it?





mk  ·  3636 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Possibly, but not necessarily. One could say that prison is a form of torture, but we as a society operate upon the assumption that it's a form of torture worth having for the purpose of punishment, and taking offenders off of the street. That's why I say that when it comes to matters of ethics and human rights, the question of torture should be put to us. However, when it comes to whether or not torture is how we best get information from terrorists, we best rely upon experts rather than public sentiment.