This article from The New York Times, which discusses interrogation techniques outlined by the CIA, was published on Sunday. "Letters Give CIA Tactics a Legal Rationale" focuses on the ability of the executive branch to step outside the bounds of the Geneva Convention. The letters which were sent from the Justice Dept to Congress on March 5 clarifies "that the administration has not drawn a precise line in deciding which interrogation methods would violate that standard, and is reserving the right to make case-by-case judgments."
This article which is very relevant to what we've been discussing and is similar to what is being discussed in the Ethics of Torture is very interesting. In tonight's reading (The Ethics of Torture) the reader is told of ways in which the government might try to take advantage of their ability to ignore the Geneva Convention and human rights laws, and with these letters you can see it happening and how the government is trying to justify it. I really recommend this to anyone who found the ethics of torture very interesting.
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In the article we read the other night, John Mccain made a point similar the one at the end of this article. McCain believes that the United States needs to be careful with the methods of torture they use. McCain thinks that if we torture harshly now, our troops down the line will be affected by it. I agree with McCain and believe that if we torture now, enemies in the future will not hold back in torturing our troops. We need to look down the line in terms of what the effects will be in the future.
and off of that, how can we go around the promoting democracy, freedom, equality etc. if we are not going to put that into practice and back up our words and concepts with action?
I agree with the article we read the other night that raises the points about not only the hypocritical nature of the US torturing, but also the question of effectiveness of these methods; mostly in terms of how accurate the information is, and whether it is worth the international and political risks.
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