Torture

Awesome article by Mark Bowden about "The Dark Art of Interrogation"

Explores the moral and ethical questions relating to torture and interrogation. In his own words:

The most effective way to gather intelligence and thwart terrorism can also be a direct route into morally repugnant terrain. A survey of the landscape of persuasion

Here is the crux of the problem, in the words of Bowden:

Getting at the information they possess could allow us to thwart major attacks, unravel their organization, and save thousands of lives. They and their situation pose one of the strongest arguments in modern times for the use of torture.

"they" in the above sentence refers to captured hard-core terrorists.

Torture is repulsive. It is deliberate cruelty, a crude and ancient tool of political oppression. It is commonly used to terrorize people, or to wring confessions out of suspected criminals who may or may not be guilty. It is the classic shortcut for a lazy or incompetent investigator. Horrifying examples of torturers' handiwork are catalogued and publicized annually by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other organizations that battle such abuses worldwide. One cannot help sympathizing with the innocent, powerless victims showcased in their literature. But professional terrorists pose a harder question. They are lockboxes containing potentially life-saving information. Sheikh Mohammed has his own political and religious reasons for plotting mass murder, and there are those who would applaud his principled defiance in captivity. But we pay for his silence in blood.

Bowden then makes an interesting distinction, one that is not part of the Geneva Convention, apparently.

Then there are methods that, some people argue, fall short of torture. Called "torture lite," these include sleep deprivation, exposure to heat or cold, the use of drugs to cause confusion, rough treatment (slapping, shoving, or shaking), forcing a prisoner to stand for days at a time or to sit in uncomfortable positions, and playing on his fears for himself and his family. Although excruciating for the victim, these tactics generally leave no permanent marks and do no lasting physical harm.

Bowden then asks an interesting question:

Serious interrogation is clearly being reserved for only the most dangerous men, like Sheikh Mohammed. So why not lift the fig leaf covering the use of coercion? Why not eschew hypocrisy, clearly define what is meant by the word "severe," and amend bans on torture to allow interrogators to coerce information from would-be terrorists?

He then goes on to bring up the dangers of such a measure:

This is the crux of the problem. It may be clear that coercion is sometimes the right choice, but how does one allow it yet still control it? Sadism is deeply rooted in the human psyche ........... How can we ensure that the practice does not become commonplace—not just a tool for extracting vital, life-saving information in rare cases but a routine tool of oppression?

"Assuming you get useful information from torture, then why not always use torture?" asks Jessica Montell, the executive director of B'Tselem, a human-rights advocacy group in Jerusalem. "Why stop at the bomb that's already been planted and at people who know where the explosives are? Why not people who are building the explosives, or people who are donating money, or transferring the funds for the explosives? Why stop at the victim himself? Why not torture the victims' families, their relatives, their neighbors? If the end justifies the means, then where would you draw the line?"

And then Bowden quotes Jessica Montell to suggest what would probably be a "reasonable" and realistic solution:

"If I as an interrogator feel that the person in front of me has information that can prevent a catastrophe from happening," she says, "I imagine that I would do what I would have to do in order to prevent that catastrophe from happening. The state's obligation is then to put me on trial, for breaking the law. Then I come and say these are the facts that I had at my disposal. This is what I believed at the time. This is what I thought necessary to do. I can evoke the defense of necessity, and then the court decides whether or not it's reasonable that I broke the law in order to avert this catastrophe. But it has to be that I broke the law. It can't be that there's some prior license for me to abuse people."

He then concludes with these interesting words:

The Bush Administration has adopted exactly the right posture on the matter. Candor and consistency are not always public virtues. Torture is a crime against humanity, but coercion is an issue that is rightly handled with a wink, or even a touch of hypocrisy; it should be banned but also quietly practiced. Those who protest coercive methods will exaggerate their horrors, which is good: it generates a useful climate of fear. It is wise of the President to reiterate U.S. support for international agreements banning torture, and it is wise for American interrogators to employ whatever coercive methods work. It is also smart not to discuss the matter with anyone.

SMS your donations

Here is an SMS I got:

Reach out to God! Make offerings (Rs10-Rs150) via SMS! Sms to 64655 @ Rs4/msg. Dharmasthala-SDM; Mantralaya-SRS; SiddhiVinayak-SVT; Jalaram-JST

It reminded me of a discussion I had with crvin regarding opening a chain of Temples, modeled on McDonalds. Think about it, there will be consistency of service besides a host of other positives. You could for example, walk into any of our TcTemples (Mc, I think is trademarked! grr) and say "I would like a number 3 with extra flowers, please". How convenient!

We could offer premium services like consultation on errant and threatening planetary alignments and the solution for such alignments. Consulting on the best time to start businesses, etc.. In short, corporatising priestly services and maintaining consistent service levels. Only the best and highly qualified priests shall be hired!

We would also be able to leverage scale and multiple locations of the TcTemples to offer cheaper and quality services. There could even be TcTemple members who will be able to access special services at multiple locations.

OK, enough of fun. :-) (And sarcasm too, if you dint notice. Personally, I prefer heterogeneity. But, I admit, I am sometimes seduced by banality and homogeneity)

Religion, God and spirituality for the masses has always had an economic and commercial aspect to it. I do not think there is anything wrong about that. Even when you buy a book about philosophy or spirituality, you are paying money and getting what you want (hopefully). I may be cynical, I may be agnostic tending towards being an atheist, (I am still afraid that God or one of his cronies will somehow be able to screw my life up :D more than it is already) but I would sure like to believe that every human should have the tools and the chance to reflect and think about matters of the mind. And, I would surely like to believe that there are exceptions, truly great people who are in some way, (siiiiggghhh!, for lack of a better word) divine.
And, in my own little biased way, I think that the religion that I was born into and the religion of my ancestors is the freest of the free market religions.