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Originally Posted by Infinite_Loser
Waterboarding isn't torture because I say it's not. And, yes, that's a perfectly valid reason. The problem with the "It's torture!" crowd is that, by following the logic that any physical, mental or emotional pain inflicted on someone solely to obtain information is torture, then any way used to glean information from someone which isn't, "Please tell me what you know?" would have to be, by it's very definition, also torture.
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This logic is torture.
The problem with those who say it isn't torture is that they don't understand what it means by "cruel and unusual punishment." We don't waterboard children to get them to tell us who stole the cookie from the cookie jar. We don't waterboard priests until they confess they've diddled children. We don't waterboard white collar criminals to make them confess to the extent of their insider trading.
Why don't we?
Waterboarding is unconstitutional if not illegal; it's immoral if not unbecoming of a state that is supposed to uphold ideals of democracy and freedom and justice.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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