Someone asked me this week if I thought waterboarding was torture.
Honestly, I had to think about it. My thought process was rather nuanced but conclusion was pretty much the opposite.
The first thing I asked the questioner was to define torture. The definition given was so broad it would apply from everything to slapping your child’s hand to beating a perfect stranger within an inch of his life, so I didn’t have much to go by with that.
I came to a number of conclusions. The first and most obvious was that I would never want to be waterboarded. But then I realized I wouldn’t want to go to jail if I murdered someone, either. So how the person experiencing waterboarding feels shouldn’t have any bearing on the matter. No one wants to suffer the consequences of their actions, that doesn’t mean we should stop handing out consequences.
The second conclusion was that, on the grand scale of torture, waterboarding would be my preferred method. If given the choice between the types of torture terrorist enjoy inflicting on their enemies – rape, maiming, burning, branding, electrocution, fingernails pulled out with pliers – I would take waterboarding in a heartbeat! By comparison, it’s more mental anguish than physical suffering.
Third, I realized some people have stronger mental and physical tolerances than others. The use of waterboarding may be effective in one case and not do jack in the next. There is no way to determine this outcome beforehand.
In the end, I don’t actually know if waterboarding is torture. And frankly, I don’t care. Make a fuss about “being on the same level as the terrorists” if you so desire. They don’t get Geneva Convention protections because they lack the decency to abide by it. Legally, we could do far worse to them than waterboarding on that basis alone. I’m not recommending it – just pointing out that it’s not illegal.
The next time someone asks me, “Is waterboarding torture, yes or no?” my response very well may be, “Who cares?”
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4 comments:
I like you. You're rad. :oD
Victoria - EVERYBODY who flys and aircraft in the military and EVERYBODY who is involved with Special Forces must graduate from Search Evasion Resistance Education (SERE School). I went to SERE school. You are treated like a prisoner of war. I was water boarded there as are most and trust me, it's not pleasant by any stretch.
At the same time, I consider it coercive interrogation, not torture. Cutting off fingers, electrocution, blinding, pulling fingernails - that's torture.
I understand that the difference may seem subtle, but when you're on the receiving end, it's not inconsequential.
LL - Definitely wasn't trying to make it sound like being waterboarded was a walk in the park! I can only imagine it must be pretty awful if so many people are in up in arms over the issue. How do you feel about coercive interrogation?
Your problem is that you think too clearly. Asking the questioner to define 'torture' was a good idea. They tend to put forward such a broad definition as to render it meaningless. Of course it doesn't matter to the opposition that terrorists aren't protected by the Geneva Conventions.
Actually, when you get right down to it, they never really cared about the terrorists, either. The waterboarding of terrorists was just another weapon in the libprog's arsenal to defeat Bush and, by extension, Republicans. The end game for the Left has always been acquisition and consolidation of political power, by whatever means necessary.
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