BBC News - Today - Torture allegations 'can't be allowed to fester':
Listening to Lord Goldsmith's interview on Saturdays R4Today regarding the torture allegations levelled at the Labour government I must admit I was gob smacked when Radio interviewer John Humphrys wheeled out the old Ticking Bomb Scenario as a justification on using information gained via torture.
This Scenario is just plain bullshit.
Information gained under torture is notoriously unreliable and needs to be verified as accurate before being acted upon.
If you suspect that there is a bomb planted somewhere, how do you check the veracity of the 'confession' within such a short time frame?
The 'terrorist' (the majority of those held in these places were and are not, just people in the wrong place at the wrong time) has several courses of action.
He can know nothing and will just be tortured anyway.
If he does know any information it may not be relevant to the current situation, or he can reveal partial or misleading information and/or he can hold out until the deadline is either too close for effective counter-measures to be implemented or passed.
If you are dealing with people whose mindset is that they are willing top blow themselves up to accomplish their aims, why would they crack under pressure?
The use of torture is also a perfect recruiting tool for those who believe that the 'West’ is Evil and that they are doing the Will of God, and that any measures are justifiable in the pursuit of that aim because that claim. (Curiously all of these justifications are strangely mirrored by some of the more radical belief systems promulgated by certain groups in the West),
This too is bullshit.
See also Craig Murray
Related articles by Zemanta
No comments:
Post a Comment