Torture, Schmorture — You Do Whatever It Takes To Protect The Nation!!!
Torture, Schmorture — You Do Whatever It Takes To Protect The Nation!!!
By
Ken Eliasberg
Much has been made lately — even a feeble bleeding-heart effort in this paper — of the brutal methods employed by our interrogators in their effort to protect the rest of us from the tender mercies of Radical Islamic Terrorists (oops, forgive me; from those guys who cause “man caused disasters”). Our president has informed us that it corrodes our character; our local preacher has described our very laudable efforts as “unconscionable.” Both descriptions inform us why the Democrats cannot be entrusted with the job of keeping America safe. Unfortunately, that’s where we find ourselves today — in the hands of slobbering, spineless pantywaists who think you avert any disaster by just making nice. In any event, even if that doesn’t work — and you happen to lose a city or two — people will like you, and that’s all that counts with our left-wing friends. America doesn’t have to be either right or good in their eyes; as long as people love us, it’s okay. Well, I’ve got news for you; (1) they still won’t like us, and(2) who gives a damn if they like us — leadership is about principles, not popularity. And the first principle that any leader should have in mind is the protection and preservation of his country. And in that vein — he or she should authorize any action calculated to protect America, no matter how shocking it may be to the sensibilities of a bunch of left-wing pansies.
Permit me to elaborate by making 4 observations;
We have not employed torture; waterboarding is not torture!!
Torture works!!!
Not only is it “conscionable” to employ torture — under certain
circumstances it may be the only tool available to us in our effort to save, very possibly, millions of lives
Under compelling circumstances, every one of us — including you moralizing left-wing holier-than-thou phonies — would not hesitate for 1 second to employ the most brutal method of torture available to us!
At the outset, let me make it very clear that the “enhanced interrogation” techniques — waterboarding — that our people employed do not, in my opinion (as well as that of many others knowledgeable on matters of this nature) constitute “torture.” And, I understand that there are others with heightened sensibilities (and a much higher belt line) who might disagree, and they are certainly free to do so. But that doesn’t make them either prudent or right!
Secondly, one thing is clear — torture works!! Even John McCain, who has taken a very strong public stand against torture (is this guy ever right about anything meaningful??), noted in his book that it broke him. Thus, despite the credit he is given for his heroism while in captivity — credit he clearly deserves — his own record as a prisoner of war who broke under torture flies in the face of his stance on torture. Now bear in mind that I am not talking about the morality of torture here — I’m talking about its efficacy.
Then we come to the morality of its use. While reasonable people might differ on this question, I have no problem with its use where the circumstances clearly indicate that a failure to resort to it might produce consequences both far more damaging and considerably less moral, i.e. the risk of sitting on your morals might produce devastating consequences.
Finally, let me bring the issue closer to home. A terrorist — oops, I mean a creator of a man caused disaster — has one of your children in his possession, and, unless stopped, will most assuredly kill him (or her). You have under your control a person who has the information necessary for you to prevent this from happening. And you have asked, cajoled, bribed, begged, and, finally, engaged in eveyone’s idea of what constitutes an acceptable “enhanced interrogation technique,” and this person still refuses to divulge the necessary information. And time is of the essence. Do you mean to tell me you will go no further and just let your child die? Do you think president Obama, who waxes on about the morality of this conduct, would hold the line if Sasha or Malia were the captives in question? Well, let me tell you what I would do — anything and everything to save my child! I would not hesitate to visit unspeakable horrors on my captive in order to do so. And I would do so for my spouse, my brother, my friend, my next door neighbor, and/or you. And, if successful in my quest to free my child (or you) while brutalizing the person under my control, I would not lose a moment’s sleep. And let me tell you something else — neither would you!! These pious, moralizing phonies are always great in dealing with your problems or problems in the abstract. How they behave, however, when the shoe is on their foot is quite another matter.
Now, let’s up the ante. You know, or have reason to believe, that a dirty bomb has been placed in a large metropolitan area, and that, if is triggered, hundreds of thousands — perhaps, millions — of people will be killed unless the bomb is defused. Again, you have under your control a person who can provide you with the information necessary to produce the desired result. Again, your captive has resisted every one of your entreaties, including all of the acceptable enhanced interrogation techniques. What are you going to do? Please don’t tell me that to torture — and I mean torture, not just waterboard; I mean to break every bone in this person’s body, among other things, if necessary — under these circumstances is “unconscionable.” Let me make it easy for you, not to torture under these circumstances would be UNCONSCIONABLE!! Millions may die, but to take any action, no matter how brutal, to save them would be unconscionable? Pulleease, how pathetically stupid, or, worse yet, dishonest can you be? Moralizing is wonderful, frequently essential, and occasionally, useful.However, where survival is concerned, it may prove to be a luxury that we can ill afford. Ordinarily, one is fairly safe to observe that you don’t save your country’s soul by losing its body. As has often been observed — and even written about — the Constitution is not a suicide pact. NEITHER IS THE BIBLE! And that’s not just my opinion; that’s the way it is — check it out! (to be continued).