2001-11-06 15:21:09+00 by Larry Burton 1 comments
Alan Dershowitz appears to be coming out in favor of using torture while interrogating suspected terrorist. I don't think that is quite the way he meant it. I will agree with him that nothing should be beyond discussion. Some things just don't have to be discussed at length before figuring out that they should be rejected. I believe torture falls into this category.
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#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:33:13+00 by: petronius
The idea of a "Torture Warrant" is downright surrealistic. The problem with torture is that while it can be very effective, it is highly unreliable. If you subject your prisoner to the horrors of the rack and the bastinado, eventually they will tell you exactly what they think you want to hear. Back in the days of the witch trials it was pretty clear what the questioner wanted. Today? I dunno. If we want bin Ladens AOL password (Afganistan On Line)torture might not work so readily.
The Maoists and the KGB had a pretty good track record in getting information out of people, but it took weeks or months of preassure, beatings, sleep deprivation etc. Do we have the time.
It seems that a drug-based questioning, under medical supervision with a warrant might be a possibility. Does such a drug regimen exist? Some commentators say no, but it seems that the CIA has been working on this for a long time. I suspect there is something in the bathroom cabinet, next to the blowfish toxin.