April 24, 2009

QOTD:

“ Chapman notes that if “effectiveness” is all we care about, any form of torture would necessarily be ok. One could, for instance, drag in a detainee’s child and begin torturing him or her in front of the detainee. I assume that even the most hardened torture advocates would draw a line there. If they didn’t, that tells you pretty much all you need to know. But if they do concede that certain methods go too far (i.e., that such things are relevant), then they’re stuck having to argue that the methods we used simply aren’t that bad. In other words, if they concede a line exists, then they’re forced to argue that these methods don’t cross it.
Obsidian Wings: The Limits of “Effectiveness”