The Banality of Evil
Two contrasting op-eds in the paper this morning about torture...what is torture, is it useful, how, should the US use it, and on whom. Couple of points that I want to bring up because they make sense to me.
First, why do we keep going on about how "the United States is not 'about' torture"? We're "better" than that. How so? We've killed thousands of civilians over the years, and I don't recall seeing anything in the Constitution or Declaration of Independence about not torturing people. US citizens, certainly not. But foreign nationals? Nah. Every major world power ever has used torture to one degree or another. The mark of how humane they are is how ashamed they are of it. We're actually pretty damned humane, and if you want some comparisons look to Syria, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, China, and pre-war Iraq. So don't tell me it's unAmerican to torture. It's not.
Secondly, under what circumstances is it justified? The usual ticking bomb scenario is the justification for using it...say you've captured a terrorist who has knowledge of where a chemical bomb is going to go off...somewhere in Manhattan. If you can save innocent lives, do you do it? Do you coerce or use force to make this person talk? If there is ANY circumstance under which it's OK to torture someone for the greater good and to save innocent people's lives, you've just stepped into it. Now, to paraphrase, you're just haggling over price. How many lives have to be saved to justify torture? How immediate the threat? How certain do you have to be? These are all valid questions that get asked EVERY SINGLE DAY. So if you want to be an idealist and a humanitarian, and say all torture is evil and wrong, that's great but I'm secretly glad that our CT organizations aren't such good people.
I'm not at all in favor of torture - it can be a very unreliable tool, and it goes against everything I believe in as a human. I really don't think I could do it to another person...but I am unwilling to throw it out completely as a nation's tool. The questions about whether or not it's justfied to dunk someone, make them stand for 40 hours at a time, blare loud music at them 24-7...these questions have to be asked every time it comes up. Because ideology is far too expensive a habit to have when security is your job. Ask the Israelis if you don't believe me.
What's more disturbing than that is the domestic spying that's going on. That does contradict the Constitution, no matter how thin you slice it. What's amusing to me is the sudden mad dash to condemn it...coome on Congress, you guys sign the bills, You're on Intelligence Panels, and Defense Appropriations Boards. Now you act surprised that the NSA has been monitoring cell phones? Please....I think most Americans who have half a brain and have ever read an Orwell book have been fairly sure this goes on. Everyone was perfectly fine to overlook it at first, but now it's politiclly too volatile. These questions would have bene raised by real patriots in the very beginning - but you all wanted to get re-elected, and it was fine then.
For the record, I've never done any of that. A few people who know what I do have asked me that question, and honestly, no. I've never been asked to, or done anything like that.
"The deeds were monstrous, but the doer ... was quite ordinary, commonplace, and neither demonic nor monstrous." - Hannah Arendt, speaking of Adolf Eichmann.
Evil looks like us, carries a briefcase, and has a family whom he loves. No excess of a deranged pyschopath can ever come close to the evil committed by an ordinary, regular human being who is just doing his job.
First, why do we keep going on about how "the United States is not 'about' torture"? We're "better" than that. How so? We've killed thousands of civilians over the years, and I don't recall seeing anything in the Constitution or Declaration of Independence about not torturing people. US citizens, certainly not. But foreign nationals? Nah. Every major world power ever has used torture to one degree or another. The mark of how humane they are is how ashamed they are of it. We're actually pretty damned humane, and if you want some comparisons look to Syria, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, China, and pre-war Iraq. So don't tell me it's unAmerican to torture. It's not.
Secondly, under what circumstances is it justified? The usual ticking bomb scenario is the justification for using it...say you've captured a terrorist who has knowledge of where a chemical bomb is going to go off...somewhere in Manhattan. If you can save innocent lives, do you do it? Do you coerce or use force to make this person talk? If there is ANY circumstance under which it's OK to torture someone for the greater good and to save innocent people's lives, you've just stepped into it. Now, to paraphrase, you're just haggling over price. How many lives have to be saved to justify torture? How immediate the threat? How certain do you have to be? These are all valid questions that get asked EVERY SINGLE DAY. So if you want to be an idealist and a humanitarian, and say all torture is evil and wrong, that's great but I'm secretly glad that our CT organizations aren't such good people.
I'm not at all in favor of torture - it can be a very unreliable tool, and it goes against everything I believe in as a human. I really don't think I could do it to another person...but I am unwilling to throw it out completely as a nation's tool. The questions about whether or not it's justfied to dunk someone, make them stand for 40 hours at a time, blare loud music at them 24-7...these questions have to be asked every time it comes up. Because ideology is far too expensive a habit to have when security is your job. Ask the Israelis if you don't believe me.
What's more disturbing than that is the domestic spying that's going on. That does contradict the Constitution, no matter how thin you slice it. What's amusing to me is the sudden mad dash to condemn it...coome on Congress, you guys sign the bills, You're on Intelligence Panels, and Defense Appropriations Boards. Now you act surprised that the NSA has been monitoring cell phones? Please....I think most Americans who have half a brain and have ever read an Orwell book have been fairly sure this goes on. Everyone was perfectly fine to overlook it at first, but now it's politiclly too volatile. These questions would have bene raised by real patriots in the very beginning - but you all wanted to get re-elected, and it was fine then.
For the record, I've never done any of that. A few people who know what I do have asked me that question, and honestly, no. I've never been asked to, or done anything like that.
"The deeds were monstrous, but the doer ... was quite ordinary, commonplace, and neither demonic nor monstrous." - Hannah Arendt, speaking of Adolf Eichmann.
Evil looks like us, carries a briefcase, and has a family whom he loves. No excess of a deranged pyschopath can ever come close to the evil committed by an ordinary, regular human being who is just doing his job.
to put it simply...... BRAVO and AMEN ( sorry i dont know how to say amen in hebrew) :-)
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Anonymous |
7:23 PM