Torture Works, And, When The Circumstances Indicate That It’s Use Is Called For, We Should Not Hesitate To Employ It
Torture Works, And, When The Circumstances Indicate That It’s Use Is Called For, We Should Not Hesitate To Employ It
By
Ken Eliasberg
To me — and most other rational human beings — two (2) things seem clear — that:
(1) In a war you do what is necessary to win it, and, in that vain, you cannot
fight a politically correct war (at least not if you hope to win it), and
(2) that to do so, intelligence is an absolutely indispensable element, and to
secure the necessary intelligence you take whatever steps the circumstances
indicate are necessary.
Or, as Charles Krauthammer put it in one of his usually well written and well reasoned messages in the Washington Post on May 1, 2009 entitled Pelosi: Utterly Contemptible:
“Torture is an impermissible evil. Except under two circumstances. The first is the ticking time bomb. An innocent’s life is at stake. The bad guy you have captured possesses information that could save this life. He refuses to divulge. In such a case, the choice is easy [not, apparently, for our local preacher man]. Even John McCain, the most admirable and estimable torture opponent, says openly that in such circumstances, ‘You do what you have to do.’And then take the responsibility.”
This is, more or less, the position that I hold, and that I discussed at some length in last week’s column. Krauthammer (a man for whose intellect and judgment I have considerable respect), continues:
“Some people, however, believe you never torture. Ever. They are akin to conscientious objectors who will never fight in any war under any circumstances, and for whom we correctly show respect by exempting from war duty. But we would never make one of them Centcom commander. Private principles are fine, but you don’t entrust such a person with the military decisions upon which hinges the safety of the nation. It is similarly imprudent to have a person who would abjure torture in all circumstances [like our local sanctimonious left-winger] making national security decisions upon which depends the protection of 300 million countrymen.
The second exception to the no-torture rule is the extraction of information from a high-value enemy in possession of high-value information likely to save lives. This case lacks the black-and-white clarity of the ticking time bomb scenario. We know less about the length of the fuse or the nature of the next attack. But we do know the danger is great. We know we must act but have no idea where or how - -and we can’t know that until we have information. Catch 22.”
Regarding our local know-nothing’s statement that “- - it is doubtful whether we have gotten anything important - -,” Krauthammer continues:
“Did it work? The current evidence is fairly compelling. George Tenet said that the ‘enhanced interrogation’ program alone yielded more information than everything gotten from ‘the FBI, the CentralIntelligence Agency and the National Security put together’.
Michael Hayden, CIA director after waterboarding had been discontinued, writes (with former Attorney General Michael Mukasey) that ‘as late as 2006