Should suspected al-Qaeda members be tortured?

[sarettah]

If we resort to torture (which we apparently already have done), then, yes, we are no better than the rest of the nasty nasties out there.

America admits suspects died in interrogations

Is this the way we want the world to view us ?? Or do we picture ourselves setting an example to the world of how good life can be and how good life should be?

(from the article above):

Some American politicians have argued that torture could be justified in this case if it helped prevent terror attacks on US citizens. Jonathan Turley, a prominent law professor at George Washington University, countered that embracing torture would be "suicide for a nation once viewed as the very embodiment of human rights".

Torture is part of a long list of concerns about the Bush administration's respect for international law, after the extrajudicial killing of al-Qa'ida suspects by an unmanned drone in Yemen and the the indefinite detention of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a number of whom have committed or attempted to commit suicide.

President Bush appeared to encourage extra-judicial solutions in his State of the Union address in January when he talked of al-Qa'ida members being arrested or meeting "a different fate". "Let's put it this way," he said in a tone that appalled many, "they are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies."




Last edited by sarettah at Mar 7 2003, 08:59 AM