Torture – What is the point?

Torture is nothing new to this century. It has taken place through out all of history. It has been present for every major conflict and it has always yielded the same results. Not once in all of recorded history has information that has been obtained in this fashion solved or ended a military conflict.

The point of torture is to obtain information from an indigenous people. To “know” inside information and have an advantage over the enemy. To acquire knowledge that would otherwise be unavailable.

Torture is any act by which severe pain, whether physical or psychological, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a means of intimidation, deterrence, revenge, punishment, or information gathering. It can be used as an interrogation tactic to extract confessions. Torture is also used as a method of coercion or as a tool to control groups seen as a threat by governments. Throughout history, it has often been used as a method of effecting religious conversion or political "re-education".

Torture is almost universally considered to be an extreme violation of human rights, as stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Signatories of the Third Geneva Convention and Fourth Geneva Convention agree not to torture protected persons (enemy civilians and POWs) in armed conflicts, and signatories of the UN Convention Against Torture agree not to intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on anyone, to obtain information or a confession, to punish them, or to coerce them or a third person. These conventions and agreements notwithstanding, it is estimated by organizations such as Amnesty International that around two out of three countries do not consistently abide by the spirit of such treaties.

Who performs torture? Well if the anals of history are examined it is almost always performed by the aggressor. The faction or Nation that has invaded a territory with military force. Being a forigen land, the attaker must gain a foothold on the inner workings of the local resistance. I wonder if this has ever paid off in the long run?

Egyptians – Nope
Chineese Dynasties - Nope
Roman Empire - Nope
British Empire – Nope
Ottoman Empire – Nope
Soviet Empire – Nope
Middle East Conflicts – Nope
German Empire – Nope
American Empire - ???????

All of these aggressive occupations failed in the end. No matter how much torture, no matter how much coercion, no matter how much political re-education in the end it comes down to one thing failure.
Now for the rant part.

I cannot believe our great nation is pissing around toiling over the price of crap at Wal-Mart and the gas pump while innocent civilians are being abducted across the globe. My god in heaven, look at all the uproar there was about an 18-year-old girl missing in Aruba. Meanwhile entire families are being disappeared into secret prisons. Why are they secret? It’s no great surprise that if this got the amount of air time that Aruba girl received that “joe-six-pack” would have no choice but to become outraged. Hell that was one girl, sure she was an American and I am sure that plays into it to some extent, but COME ON America let’s wake up and smell the coffee.

We hear the example of, “if you knew one person had the knowledge to stop a nuclear bomb from going off, wouldn’t you torture them to find out?” Great example, but ultimately flawed. Can anyone point to one interrogation that this scenario played out? I’m sure if it had happened the government would be parading it on every TV station across the nation. “See we told you it’s worth the sacrifice.” This type of information has never come to light using torture as a catalyst. It’s a worthless means of gathering Intel. But guess what folks even though it’s revolting in nature and denounced by many, torture is the device that allows Joe to sleep sound at night. Knowing that we are doing everything we can including the torture of fellow human beings.

Ultimately this occupation will fail, as did al the rest that came before it. We will not win the war on terror. We will not free the Middle East and we will not have an advantage because we tortured the information out of a civilian population. The only thing torture is creating is a new generation of American haters. Make no mistake my friends we have become the Nazi’s of the 21st century and our children will pay the price for our arrogance.