Position:Home>History> Is Torture morally acceptable ?

i am definately not anti toture!., like no joke i think its rediculous how easy we are on people in interrogations today!. i am not an evil person!. its just i want the truth and the right reasons!. i think yu people need to do whatever is necassary to get the truth outa people and in cases it might not b justifiable if the person is tortured for the wrong reasons !.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Torture is NOT morally acceptable!. Moral standards are, first of all, limits on our OWN behavior; restraints that moral people accept are necessary for the survival of human decency!. Morality is at its' most fundamental level the acceptance that we ourselves will not do what immoral people will do; we will not sink to the level of those we most seek to contain!. Moral people are a force against wrong only so long as we ourselves refuse to become the same thing we must stop!. Without this moral dividing line, we are all lost!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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No!. For Americans to use torture against enemies of the state is a tacit okay for enemies to use torture against Americans!.
This is why America signed the Geneva Convention!. It was an international coalition, or promise, to treat all prisoners humanely and to a minimum standard!.
Torturing prisoners means breaking that promise!. If Americans expect respect from other nations, we have to keep our promises!.
This in no way absolves the terrorists!. They are and were responsible for their actions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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NO! People have allowed themselves to be talked into many bad things because of the perceived threat of terrorism!. If you believe in God rightly you do what is right and trust God to make things right!. We have consistently condemned such behavior in others but so many now justify it for us!. We sell our right to freedom and privacy etc!.thinking it makes us safer yet we don't demand the securing of our borders!. If threat were real why would one of your first priorities not be the borders!? We know our troops wouldn't fight to the bitter end rather than surrender to an enemy that will torture them and it will work the same against us in he future!. Most don't realize we have not even been shown the worst of it!. On top of it all it does something irreversible to the men that carry out the torture and they will come back to live in your city!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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First, I think this is just an excuse for you to rant!.

Second, I'm against torture -- it is proven NOT to accomplish much, because people are either trained to not respond or will say anything to make it stop and it's morally wrong!.
http://www!.washingtonpost!.com/wp-dyn/art!.!.!.

Even John McCain is against it!
http://www!.pbs!.org/newshour/bb/military/!.!.!.

However, I guess it worked on Cheney (WARNING: Article is Tongue in Cheek)
http://www!.avantnews!.com/modules/news/ar!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Hi!

This question might go better in the Philosophy section, since it's not really history-related!. I'm sure you'll get some great answers over there!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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never
if you condone torture you have lost whatever it is you are fighting for!.
It's the tool of the cowardWww@QuestionHome@Com

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If somebody is prepared to die for their cause, why would you think they would reveal information under torture!? – shahid is shahid!. If one participant had been "caught" that would have to mean an intelligence agency knew that an action was planned – it would be more productive to use that intelligence – terrorist units work on a cell structure so the intelligence gained through torture would not necessarily result in the prevention of the action, equally an intelligence operation would not necessarily result in prevention!.

To torture one person to save 3,000 might seem morally justifiable – but what if that one person was an innocent would that justify torture of another, and another, and another until all members of a particular ethnicity or religion were tortured!? You might reply "but they weren't innocent" which is fine in hindsight but not in the real world where time moves in one direction only!.

If you (and why not you – somebody has to do it) tortured another human being, whether for your own or your nation's benefit, and that torture became known what would the relatives and friends of that person think, would it harden their resolve, would they be morally justified in torturing you or a member of your family – regardless of what information that your torture produced or not!. If you are not prepared to torture somebody are you prepared to order somebody else to torture!?

Look at the international flak USA has rightly taken over Guantanamo, water-boarding and for extraordinary renditions – and those are post-9/11, how much support do you think terrorist organisations garnered as a result of these!?

btw you need to look further into the responsibilities and provisions of signatories of the Geneva Convention(s)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I'm strongly anti-torture!.

When it comes down to it, we must evaluate the issue on three fronts: (1) does torture work (2) does torture uphold our american values, constitution and international laws we have sworn to uphold (3) does torture best serve our national interests!.

On all four, i believe the answer is no!. The first one is the most factual of them, and the evidence has been overwhelmening that it does not!. This quote from Brigadier General David R!. Irvine sums it up well:

"No one has yet offered any validated evidence that torture produces reliable intelligence!. While torture apologists frequently make the claim that torture saves lives, that assertion is directly contradicted by many Army, FBI, and CIA professionals who have actually interrogated al Qaeda captives!. Exhibit A is the torture-extracted confession of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, an al Qaeda captive who told the CIA in 2001, having been "rendered" to the tender mercies of Egypt, that Saddam Hussein had trained al Qaeda to use WMD!. It appears that this confession was the only information upon which, in late 2002, the president, the vice president, and the secretary of state repeatedly claimed that "credible evidence" supported that claim, even though a now-declassified Defense Intelligence Agency report from February 2002 questioned the reliability of the confession because it was likely obtained under torture!. In January 2004, al-Libi recanted his "confession," and a month later, the CIA recalled all intelligence reports based on his statements!."

The second question is clearly a no-no to me!. Does torture uphold our american values!? To say yes is to say that we are a nation that will sacrifice anything for our security and in the words of Thomas Jefferson: "He who trades liberty for security deserves neither and will lose both!." also, the use of torture clearly disregards the Geneva Convention, which is something we signed because it is clearly in line with our views that people should be treated with dignity and respect, especially when we have no evidence that they even have done anything wrong!.

Thirdly, we most consider what is best for our nation!. If we torture Muslim prisoners, is that going to stop the terror!? If anything, it will help recruitment in these extremist organizations!. Tasnim Noorani, who oversaw the handing of suspects into US custody when serving as a senior interior ministry official from 2000 to 2004 said that Guantanamo Bay and other torture centers didn't help them get any good information out of suspects, "Instead, the experience converted (inmates) into becoming more hardline!. It gave a boost to those promoting militancy!. Images from there and Iraq were good material for handlers to encourage suicide bombers" also, if we are torturing captives in America, you can bet your balls the terrorists will use that as a reason they can torture our brave men and women fighting when they are captured!.

I think that given this evidence from people who clearly know what they're talking about, torture is not an effective method of interrogation, because someone being tortured will say whatever you want to hear!. It is not in line with our American values, and actually creates more terrorism and hatred for America, while also putting our soldiers in undue danger of being tortured themselves!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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