Politics and Religion
WTF do you mean "they did not serve their country"?
GaGambler
posted
Here is the deal, enemies are working everyday to cause harm to us.
A lot of people are working every day to harm us. I'd be willing to bet that if you polled the US populace on who has caused more harm, terrorists, or bankers, then I'd bet terrorists wouldn't win out. Statistics will tell you that terrorists managed to kill 3,000 Americans one year, but alcohol consumption kills 150,000 every year. Should we waterboard banking and alcohol corporate executives?If waterboarding is necessary to obtain information to protect us from attack, then so be it.
The problem is that it doesn't give anyone any information. If an interrogator tortured you by smashing your toes with a claw hammer, you'd be willing to tell him that you were responsible for the destruction of the Hindenburg. Torture provides a metric shit ton of intelligence, all of which is nothing more than fiction, and is whatever the torture victim thinks the interrogator wants to hear. Numerous studies have demonstrated this. A far more useful tactic to gaining information is by inducing the Stockholm syndrome, which requires no torture (it impedes it), and does not violate national and international law.The Bush administration efforts were focused on finding and preventing attacks from Afghanistan to the Phillipines rather than waiting for the evil-doers to show up at a US airport.
The Bush administration efforts were focused on torture specifically because it would produce fictional terror plots, that they could then use to justify their activities. I'll ignore the utterly juvenile term "evil-doer".It's either waterboarding and aggressive rules of engagement or having to submit to ridiculous airport pat-downs.
No, I think metal detectors are a far better alternative. Here's an even better one: build a high speed national rail system. After all, you can't fly a train into a building. Lastly, I'll say that the 8th amendment of the US Constitution states:
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
Note that there's no qualifiers there for this to apply only to US citizens. This protection applies to everyone. The Founders knew that a gov't that could torture it's "enemies" could also torture it's critics, or even it's citizens. Therefore, the support of torture is fundamentally UnAmerican, and demonstrates your hatred of the principles this country was founded upon.
Might I suggest you move to a nation whose principles are more in tune with your own, Breaker. I hear they still boil people alive in Uzbekistan.
-- Modified on 11/15/2010 8:09:13 PM