Posted by
Mike Silverman on Friday, April 17, 2009 12:54:28 PM
President Obama, a man who loves to make his own country look as bad as he can, has approved of the release of documents detailing interrogation methods used on terror suspects. There are many good, decent, honest citizens living in our country with great respect for our land and the law. Personally, I do respect the law, and strive never to break it, the worst I've ever broken the law is when I got a ticket for going through a red light, and I will admit to speeding anywhere from 5 to 10 miles an hour above posted limits. While I always do my best to abide by the law..., if it comes down to having to make a choice ..., I would say that I love and respect the freedom and life of my fellow countrymen more than I love and respect the exact letter of the law of the land, and so my view is in that regard when it comes to interrogation of captured terrorists or suspects. For the sake of moving past the surface debate, I will concede the point of view of those who wish to call interrogation methods like waterboarding torture. For me, it's irrelevent in that matter. For me, if it comes down to being the only remaining option then I don't care if our CIA or military have to skin the captured "combatants" alive to get them to cough up information. And if they don't... and they die while being "tortured" ... then that's one less vile beast out roaming the wilderness who will try sinking its fangs into my neighbors and family or blow up one or more of our courageous soldiers on the battlefield. Should the law be changed to allow torture of captured terrorists if other methods of interrogation fail? Absolutley. The sooner the better. Should torture be an option now to potentially be used on captured terrorists and terror suspects, while the law technically forbids it? Absolutely, if that's what it takes. But those who do so while it is illegal, should be prepared to take the potential risk of being tried and imprisoned for breaking the law. And I am certain the list of volunteers willing to take that chance would be long enough to encircle the globe. For his part, Obama at least did the right thing in saying there would be no prosecution of those who already engaged "torture" interrogations. Obama calls it a "dark and painful chapter in our history" while ignoring how it saved lives and that is was never the first option. I have seen enough unclassified material on the results of intelligence gained through "torture" to feel confident it has worked enough times successfully, not in every case, but then we have experts in the field of interrogation who should be able to determine the candidate on whom it would work best and , of course, it should only be used as a last resort. When all other methods of gaining intelligence have failed, and only when there is substantive reason to believe the individual facing it has covert knowledge that can save our lives. And just to be very clear, this is in regard to captured "combatants" at Guantanamo prison who, in my humble opinion, do not, and should not, fall under the protection of the US Constitution or the Geneva Convention.
- Mike Silverman