Guantanamo Bay Still Going Strong
Torture is always an unsettling subject. No one likes torture. Okay, that might be a lie, but chances are most people are not in favor of being tortured or witnessing suffering. I know for a fact that I do not want American soldiers abroad being tortured. However, there seems to be a double standard when it comes to the US torturing war criminals.
It’s not REALLY a double-standard, but it feels a lot like one. The problem is we do not want our soldiers to be tortured, yet they are anyway. If the United States were to stop torturing suspected terrorists, would other countries stop torturing United States militants? The answer is clearly no, so there’s a really thin line between setting an example and treating others the way they treat you.
The one problem I have with torture is the fact that we are keeping SUSPECTED terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Obviously I’m hinting at the fact that not all of the people kept there are necessarily terrorists, and furthermore, none of them have been convicted of being a terrorist as they have not been taken to court. Torturing actual terrorists? Fine. Torturing innocent people? Seems bad to me.
Obama pledged to have Guantanamo Bay shut down within his first 100 days of office. Now people are pissed off that he may not be able to uphold that campaign promise. Honestly, he shouldn’t have made such a promise in the first place. It’s sort of like Bush the First’s, “read my lips, no new taxes” clause. You can’t honestly expect anyone to uphold such a promise can you? Closing Guantanamo Bay is tricky business, and the fact of the matter is there are actual terrorists being held there.
The humanity of torture is always in question. The term “cruel and unusual punishment” always comes to mind. The show 24 is actually battling this very same dilemma and torture is now being questioned as an interrogation technique. I’m gonna be honest here, it works. There is no doubt in my mind that torture produces results. It may be ugly, but this wouldn’t even be up for debate if torture was not worth it.
Can torture be justified when the person being tortured has committed heinous crimes? Can it be justified when innocents may be subject to the very same?
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W^L+ Said,
January 27, 2009 @ 7:35 pm
Actually, torture does not work. Why? Because the person being tortured will say whatever they think will get their tormenters to stop. The information obtained is not reliable, for exactly this reason.
One thing it does do, however, is convince the “detainees” that America is evil and that they should join the opposing side if they hadn’t already done so.
Alberto Said,
January 28, 2009 @ 11:28 am
Well yes, okay. Torture doesn’t always work, unless the person being tortured decides that telling the truth will cause the tormenters to stop.
But yes, I would say it does more harm than good and makes us seem hypocritical. Thanks for commenting!
Joel Christensen Said,
April 1, 2009 @ 2:45 am
This is just purely hypocritical.
And sorry, but we cannot forever live on the idea of fixing problems by violence. We are all people, all the same, so we need a way that will actually work.
If you hit me and I hit you did we solve anything?
No, we just have to hits to each other making each other more mad and things get even worse.
Alberto Said,
April 3, 2009 @ 12:05 am
You are absolutely correct. War/violence is a no-win situation, and in game theory, both parties always have less afterwards than when they started.