Do you think torture is an effective means to get accurate information from accused terrorists?
Before Bush Administration enhanced interrogation abuses were discussed widely, most Americans probably would have said "Yes."
How were your attitudes about the effectiveness of torture formed? Where did they come from?
I remember a chilling scene from the movie "Eraser" and dialog like "... after what they did to her, she would have told them everything."
Torture works because Hollywood told us it works. Hollywood helped us believe in the power of torture to obtain valuable, accurate, actionable information.
As private citizens, if we were in a bad situation, most of us probably would tell the truth in an effort to save our lives and stop the pain.
Seasoned terrorists are very different from you and me. They have decided to lay down their lives for their cause. They have been schooled and prepared for just such situations. They know how far the enemy will go to try to break them, get then to talk yet still keep then alive.
Detainees know interrogators use random violence to try to break them. Interrogator/detainee interactions are NOT Pavlovian. A detainee cannot guarantee the violence will permanently stop by being compliant. The violence is random so detainees feel they cannot control it in any way, even by being cooperative.
Terrorists are manipulative and deceptive. They will say and do anything to try to stay alive and stop the pain. That does not necessarily mean providing valuable information.What rational person would think that days of sleep deprivation, water boarding or stress positions would provide lucid, reliable responses?
If you told them the truth would they stop the torture? Probably not. Your captors don't know for sure if you are telling them the truth, so why give up your cause and comrades?
What is there about enhanced interrogation techniques that would make a seasoned terrorist want to cooperate?
It's sick sadism. We're angry at these people and we want to cause them pain, whether they are guilty or not or whether they can help us or not. Don't call it enhanced interrogation, it's sadism and torture.
It doesn't work. It does enrage our enemies.
Do we want our troops treated this way when they are captured? Do we want to use enhanced techniques we would not want used on our own forces?
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