Threads from Henry's Web

Tag: torture

  • Against Torture

    I think it’s as simple as that. I’m against it.

    Energion author Bob Cornwall writes about it, and I agree.

    I saw one question that disturbed me, not in that I don’t know how to respond, but in what else it may suggest. The question is whether I’d support torture if an individual knew where a kidnapped loved one was held and wouldn’t reveal that location.

    Here’s my response. I’m a weak man who loves my family. It is quite likely that I would advocate all kinds of stupid and/or immoral things if a member of my family were kidnapped. That’s why we don’t have people under those circumstances making the rules. I might advocate this out of weakness, but in the end, I would not want to become the bad guy myself. As Christians, I would think we would understand this approach. I am happy that we have laws to direct how we behave in such situations so that the decision is not made in the emotion of the moment.

    I can make many utilitarian arguments against torture, but I think the moral argument supersedes all. This is not the type of people we want to be. It is sad that we have compromised ourselves so much for so little gain, but that is not the reason it’s wrong. That just makes a moral wrong more tragic.

     

  • Congratulations to the British

    According to Newsweek, Britain’s Court of Appeals has ordered the release of information on the torture of a British resident while in U. S. custody (HT: Dispatches). Both the Bush and then the Obama administrations have argued against releasing this information and threatened the British with refusing to share intelligence if it was released.

    I think a good friend lets you know when you’re wrong and a good ally holds you accountable, even and especially when you fail to do it yourself. We are very, very wrong on the issue of torture in this country. In a small but important way we’re being held accountable.

    Kudos to the folks who did it!

  • Lawmakers Apologize

    . . . and well they should. MSNBC has the story.

    One interesting paragraph was this one:

    Legal experts say the case shows the United States has violated a 1998 law that specifically prohibits the government from turning a suspect over to a foreign country where the suspect might be tortured. U.S. authorities say they do not turn over suspects to other countries without diplomatic assurances that they will not be tortured.

    He was turned over to Syria. On what basis did someone in our government believe a diplomatic assurance from the Syrians that he wouldn’t be tortured? Is it because Syria has never been known to lie before? They’re on our list of states supporting terrorism! Yet we are, of course, going to continue this practice because it is so valuable–we are assured–in fighting terrorism.

    And here is what one Republican congressman said:

    “Yes, we should be ashamed” of what happened in the Arar case, Rohrabacher said. “That is no excuse to end a program which has protected the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans. … We are at war. Mistakes happen. People die.”

    Mistakes happen? Well, yes they do. If we had arrested and questioned him, but studied the situation carefully before we turned him over to Syria, we could presumably have avoided this mistake. The problem is that we are getting calloused about charges of [tag]torture[/tag]. After all, there are those in our own government who will defend the practice. [sarcasm]Perhaps someone sent him to Syria for his own protection.[/sarcasm]

    At least the Canadian government is doing the right thing now by apologizing and compensating the man.