The American Human: From the Horse's Mouth: Torture Doesn't -- and Didn't -- Work

Saturday, December 20, 2014

From the Horse's Mouth: Torture Doesn't -- and Didn't -- Work

Waterboarding isn't new, and it isn't any less illegal.

From Politico, former interrogator Mark Fallon puts the lie to Dick Cheney's claims:

The self-defeating stupidity of torture might come as news to Americans who’ve heard again and again from Cheney and other political leaders that torture “worked.” Professional interrogators, however, couldn’t be less surprised. We know that legal, rapport-building interrogation techniques are the best way to obtain intelligence, and that torture tends to solicit unreliable information that sets back investigations.

Yes, torture makes people talk—but what they say is often untrue. Seeking to stop the pain, people subjected to torture tend to say what they believe their interrogators want to hear.

Clear as a bell.

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My General Principles

1. Civilized societies require the rule of law.
2. Science is my preferred method for examining and understanding reality.
3. Religion is superstition.
4. An educated society is a healthy society.
5. Democratic governments are by their very nature socialist.
6. Market economies are by their very nature capitalist.
7. Markets are not (entirely) efficient or rational and thus require regulation.
8. Don’t confuse politics with public policy.
9. Civil discourse requires rational argument, even if yelling or stomping your feet or name-calling is more fun.
10. If you consider making stuff up a viable tactic, you are disallowed from civil discourse.
11. Puritanism is America’s original sin.
12. Income redistribution is good for society, hoarding is not.
13. Everybody, from time to time, needs help.

About the American Human

The American Human is written by Calvin Ross, a retired teacher who at various points in life has been a musician, woodworker, restaurateur, narrator, English teacher in Japan, novelist, technology journalist, and private tutor to Japanese children here in the U.S.

Happily residing in the wine country of Sonoma County north of San Francisco, Calvin has lived in the Philippines, the Netherlands, and the aforementioned Japan, as well as in Chicago, Colorado, Georgia, and many different towns in California, including, of all places, the Mojave Desert.

Calvin, you may note quickly, is a liberal progressive who doesn't think being called a socialist is all that bad, especially since he sort of would like living in Denmark if it weren't so cold. He blogs because he can.