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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (190442)	6/29/2006 5:54:40 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 281500

In the case of the kidnapper, I would consider them a violent combatant until they agreed to surrender unto me all that they are withholding. Now that's a definition worth noting, IMO. Detainees are different. We are holding them for a variety of reasons and we don't know what might come of torture. Unfortunately, few of our people make the distinction that you have made. Your average detainee can be considered a "person of interest", but when you catch a guy red-handed hanging with terrorist groups who YOU ALREADY KNOW are involved in kidnappings, beheadings, and manufacturing of suicide bombs (cars, vests.. etc), then the need to get information from them is FAR MORE critical and time sensitive. Which, IMO, warrants preserving flexible options for the purpose of extracting information from them in order to prevent further loss of innocent life. Am I willing to take the risk of gaining the whole world while losing my soul? If I have tortured someone who knows nothing I have become what I am sworn to oppose. I absolutely concur. There are some situations where you lack sufficient cause to suspect time-criticality of information. And in such cases, I would not believe the loss of humanity suffered on the part of our people warrants the extreme measures of physical beatings and extreme mental intimidation. Again.. I'm not black and white on this.. Circumstances, as you previously mentioned, must dictate. I know I wouldn't fear for my humanity were I certain that my actions were crucial to saving another human life from being sacrificed on the altar of Islamic Jihadism. Hawk