re: #114 RogueOne

…
I guess my pet peeve is the downward decline of the word “torture”. Anything short of giving a terror suspect an atty, reading him his miranda rights, putting him in a climate controlled facility and fed halal meals while watching old disney flicks is now considered torture.

I sometimes think as you do, that that has happened to the definition of “torture”.

But it isn’t, really.

Basically - I think we all struggle with the point at which we are OK with hurting another person.

I think it’s my obligation to other people to treat them courteously and respectfully, and that includes avoiding imposing any sort of physical or psychological hurt.

But I feel strongly that my obligation to treat other people that way ends the minute another person poses a threat to my life or safety, or the lives and safety of my family to whom I owe a greater obligation of protection.

Putting that into a bigger picture - I am against the harming of another person (torture) UNLESS that person is known to desire harm to harm myself and my fellow citizens, and is known to have knowledge that could prevent death or harm to me or my fellow citizens. Knowledge of that sort can reasonably be assumed to be in the possession of someone like KSM; however, can it be reasonably assumed to be in the possession of this guy? I think not.

re: #128 Big Steve

Regarding the theme of this thread…when in doubt in this insane world, always go back to your first principles which in this case is the good old US Constitution. We collectively have in our souls the imprint of this document which clearly states that you cannot torture (cruel and unusual punishment), have a right to a speedy trial by a jury of your peers and fundamentally insists that it is better to let a guilty person go free than to imprison an innocent person.

Big Steve - do we have the right to defend ourselves? If the question is to kill a person in the battlefield, OR to capture the person and use coercive measures to get information the person is known to have that must be made known in order for us to defend ourselves - which would you prefer?