My View on Torture, Blog #4

First of all, let me start off by saying the issue question for this packet is ridiculous. The question reads, "Is It justifiable to Put Suspected Terrorists under Great Physical Duress?" It should say something along the lines of, "Is it OK to torture people we think could be terrorists?" Sounds different now, doesn't it?
I believe that torture is never OK. The argument for "interrogation techniques" is severely flawed. First, calling torture "interrogation techniques" is showing the embarrassment of those for that side; one can't be embarrassed of something he supports. Second, in the article George Bernard Shaw says there should exceptions that should be made in the case of the "ticking time bomb." In class we had a discussion about the hypothetical situation of a bomb in New York City. If someone is in custody and the government is absolutely 100% sure this person knows where the bomb is, is it OK to torture that person? There is rarely a time where we know the person in custody is 100% guilty. There are very few things in this world we can be sure of. There is no excuse to torture another human, even if there was a way to know for sure. My favorite argument of the other side is "Well, we should torture this person to save thousands." Again, maybe we would save thousands, maybe not. Maybe the bomb is fake. Maybe this isn't the person. Maybe there was miss information. It is never OK to torture because it is extremely unethical, and we cannot be sure of the information (possibly coming from another man being tortured to make his own pain stop).
The fact is, there will always be someone or some force out to get us. What shows true character is not stooping down to that forces level. Krauthammer explains a very important point. Torture spreads. Sure, it may be effective at first in a small prison, but once word gets out that it works, it will spread like wildfire. Krauthammer also explains how at first torture was isolated, only used in the most extreme cases. Within months of that, it spread to Iraq at Guantanamo Bay and also Abu Ghraib. Krauthhammer's quote is brilliant when he says, "The lesson is that it is impossible to quarantine torture into a hermetic box; it will inevitably contaminate the military as a whole."
Who wants to support a country with the belief that hurting others is OK?