Wednesday, July 02, 2008
The Manchurian candidates
Did they even think of the sick irony? ... One major problem with the otherwise good story: The communists wanted to extract false confessions from POWs for propaganda purposes. They weren't looking for the truth. So to emphasize that the 'interrogation methods' led to false confessions without making that point seems silly. ... BTW: Hub Blog doesn't care if the interrogation/torture methods led to the truth or not. The methods are morally wrong and pragmatically not necessary. The FBI warned the CIA on both counts that it was making a big mistake.
Update -- Christopher Hitchens on waterboarding: 'Believe Me, It’s Torture.' He adds after undergoing the treatment:
Did they even think of the sick irony? ... One major problem with the otherwise good story: The communists wanted to extract false confessions from POWs for propaganda purposes. They weren't looking for the truth. So to emphasize that the 'interrogation methods' led to false confessions without making that point seems silly. ... BTW: Hub Blog doesn't care if the interrogation/torture methods led to the truth or not. The methods are morally wrong and pragmatically not necessary. The FBI warned the CIA on both counts that it was making a big mistake.
Update -- Christopher Hitchens on waterboarding: 'Believe Me, It’s Torture.' He adds after undergoing the treatment:
I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.Via Glenn.
