Torture memos

[glatt]

"What is it about the terrible intimacy of torture that so disturbs and captivates the public? Why has torture long been singled out for special condemnation in the law of war, when war brings death and suffering on a scale that dwarfs the torture chamber?"

War is hell. It's messy. Innocent people will die. Everyone expects that. The point of war is to kill your enemy. So bombing someone in a war really doesn't move me at all. It's part of the point of war. I don't support war easily. I've been opposed to most of the wars in my lifetime. But if you're gonna do war, you have to do it to win and show no mercy for the enemy. (Unless showing mercy gives you a strategic advantage.)

Once you have a prisoner in captivity however, the rules change. You are in complete control of the situation. It's no longer a messy war situation, but a prison situation. The rules of law should apply because you are back in civilization.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by glatt

Once you have a prisoner in captivity however, the rules change. You are in complete control of the situation. It's no longer a messy war situation, but a prison situation. The rules of law should apply because you are back in civilization.

I know what you are getting at. And I sort of agree. I am not sure that the problem lies with what we do to the high value targets of whom we are sure of their importance and value as the vetting of all the prisoners captured. I think back to the days of WW2 where our soldiers were kept in pretty poor conditions and the Germans we captured were actually brought to working farms where they had a lot of local freedom to work, move about, and purchase goods, and in some cases even travel. But times have changed and although war and the WOT specifically has changed many of the rules of conventional combat. The enemy is non-specific and not easily identified. IMHO, all they know and respond to is a certain degree of brutality and ruthlessness, anything less is a weakness to that kind of enemy. It brings about many mixed emotions for many reasons. I don't have the answer. But I know the answer is not easily defined by ill conceived UN Conventions which everyone ignores and only provides a bully pulpit for the detractors and critics.