Should suspected al-Qaeda members be tortured?

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by Sword@Mar 7 2003, 04:38 PM
Colin, interested in hearing your opinion on it too. What do you think?

I have been contemplating this question for days and there has been no clear logic that leaves me feeling I know what is right or wrong. I have finally come to an answer that is right for me. I will get to that at the end.

I certainly don't think Mr. Mohammed is deserving of anything but being thrown in a New York City general population prison so he can suffer the fate of Jeffrey Dahmer. This is not about justice, however. That is not the question. Though I wish the guy would suffer I think it would be wrong to inflict suffering upon him for the purpose of punishment. Those that feel we should live up to a high standard we ourselves proclaim to hold are right in a very high moral sense. They are right also by the logic of an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Don't do unto others what they will do back unto you.

There are further difficult questions. Would you kill one person if you thought you could save 1000? The answer to that probably comes down to who the "one" is and who the "1000" are. Would you have killed a Nazi guard to save 1000 Jewish prisoners? Would have tortured him to find out where the key is?

I think:
The state has an obligation to protect its citizens.
The state has an obligation to uphold international laws.

These principles conflict with each other. I am not sure how we can place one above the other
on on any but purely subjective grounds.

The resolution to my dilemma is this.

It finally comes down to the 1000 person question. Everyone MUST have a point at which they say "yes", Would you torture a person to save 1000 lives? How about 10,000? How about one million? How about millions - all of New York City? If you are not willing to torture one person to save 7 million lives, I believe you are truly immoral and inhumane. If we can agree to that, we are agreeing that it is more than a matter of principle but also of practicality. We are weighing the positives and the negatives and deciding that at some point there IS a tipping point somewhere - even if it is in a far off distant place.

I don't think any country is going to stand up for Mohammed and claim him as a citizen complaining that his rights are being violated. I would be willing to bet his citizenship everyhere and anywhere is effectively revoked. I doubt Kuwait or Pakistan want him. I think he has surrendered those rights and that protection. He is a rogue al Qaeda warrior. Cost-benefit analysis? Mohammed to me seems he is worth the price of torture.



Last edited by Colin at Mar 8 2003, 06:27 AM