Big news today is President Obama's seal of approval on a new High Value Detainee Interrogation Group. This new group, part of the Department of Homeland Security, becomes active today, the same day that the 2004 reports of the so-called unethical interrogation of al-Queda prisoners by the CIA will be released to the public.
Every major news source is mentioning the CIA's threatened use of a power drill to extract information from a known terrorist. Read that again, the threatened use of a power drill. Is there something wrong with me that I don't see anything at all wrong with that?
Look, I don't agree with torture, not for people or animals. But, fear of torture, that's something else all together. If someone thinks there's a possibility you may use a power tool on them, they're probably a lot more likely to tell you what you want to know; especially if they're looking at said power tool.
That being said, I don't think it's a bad idea to have a branch of law enforcement which specializes in prisoner interrogation. I do think it's a bad idea to tell the world that they're going to abide by the strictest humanitarian guidelines. Advertise that their hobbies include eating babies and passing kidney stones. The more barbarian High Value Detainees believe their methods to be, the more readily they'll share information without resorting to unethical practices.
CNN reports that the CIA would conduct mock executions to convince detainees to divulge important information. They reportedly fired a pistol in an adjoining room, telling a detained terrorist his accomplice had just been shot, and the same would happen to him if he didn't start talking. That's a stroke of genius right there. Why? Because you've efficiently scared your quarry enough without having to resort to actually killing anyone. Take away fear as a weapon, and you're left with ineffective pleas or real violence.
Subterfuge is a politicians bread and butter. How is it that they haven't seen its value here? It's the practical application of BS, and they're saying it's unethical. Bizarre.
What do you say, Reader? Am I a monster? Is making a man think he could have his eye socket drilled out cruel, even if you have no intention of actually doing it? Will Obama's new interrogation task force be effective, or just a Pythonesque mockery? Cardinal Fang, fetch the Fluffy Pillow *gasp*
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