Monday, April 20, 2009
Emulating the enemy
I will admit that I have been quick to parrot those of us who have expressed outrage
at government interrogators torturing prisoners to extract information from them. I have deplored such tactics as waterboarding and considered them completely out of
character for Americans to engage in. After all, aren't we supposed to be the good guys and not sink to the levels of the enemy in our war against terror? Given that, I have begun to question the necessity of such methods from a different point of view. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there drugs available that when injected can make a person sing like a canary and reveal every thing he or she knows? Drugs like sodium pentathol for example, that have proven to be effective and painless to boot? My question of course, is if this is true, what is the point in waterboarding and any other painful form of interrogation procedure? I'd hate to think we had people on the government payroll that got off on torturing prisoners just for the sake of administering pain, when other equally effective, though painless, methods were on hand. I am not so naive as to believe that the terrorists spend much time worrying about the degree of discomfort they inflict upon their prisoners, but as I said, WE are supposed to be the white hats in this scenario. It just seems to me, in this age of scientific wonders, middle ages tactics should be abandoned and thrown out with the trash.
George Morin
Auburn, Ga.
at government interrogators torturing prisoners to extract information from them. I have deplored such tactics as waterboarding and considered them completely out of
character for Americans to engage in. After all, aren't we supposed to be the good guys and not sink to the levels of the enemy in our war against terror? Given that, I have begun to question the necessity of such methods from a different point of view. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there drugs available that when injected can make a person sing like a canary and reveal every thing he or she knows? Drugs like sodium pentathol for example, that have proven to be effective and painless to boot? My question of course, is if this is true, what is the point in waterboarding and any other painful form of interrogation procedure? I'd hate to think we had people on the government payroll that got off on torturing prisoners just for the sake of administering pain, when other equally effective, though painless, methods were on hand. I am not so naive as to believe that the terrorists spend much time worrying about the degree of discomfort they inflict upon their prisoners, but as I said, WE are supposed to be the white hats in this scenario. It just seems to me, in this age of scientific wonders, middle ages tactics should be abandoned and thrown out with the trash.
George Morin
Auburn, Ga.
