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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Dodgy Ticker who wrote (302564)	4/24/2009 12:44:59 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	12 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794376

I think what's missing in this debate is that torture is being portrayed as discrete; i.e., all or none. We would be better served, IMO, to view torture as a continuum, and that what we (USA) did was at the extreme lower end of that continuum (and was justified, again IMO). What's also missing is that torture is not defined according to personal feelings, but by law. Waterboarding is not torture. This is a legal statement of fact. If Congress wants to define it as torture they must pass a law. What Obama is attempting to do is criminalize the legal opinions of the previous administration, an unprecedented action.

To: The Dodgy Ticker who wrote (302564)	4/24/2009 12:53:08 PM
From: Geoff Altman	1 Recommendation Respond to of 794376

torture is being portrayed as discrete; i.e., all or none. We would be better served, IMO, to view torture as a continuum, What we need is to redefine the word torture. If we go by Merriam-Webster: 1 a: anguish of body or mind : agony b: something that causes agony or pain 2: the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure If we go by this definition then you could classify routine police questioning as torture. After all that causes mental duress and agony in some cases, especially when you have lengthy interrogations with sleep deprivation.... IMO there's a need to separate the permanent physical and mental damage which are the results of true torture and the temporary discomfort and fear that are the results of water boarding. Bush tried to do this by using the term enhanced interrogation, but that was rejected by critics....