tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post8898175158863897611..comments2021-02-18T12:33:56.543-08:00Comments on A Voice of Reason: We Don't Torture!Jon Streblerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10728937479094566158noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-32906701882569534422012-05-28T12:04:34.359-07:002012-05-28T12:04:34.359-07:00Your extreme scenarios give us a higher sense of t...Your extreme scenarios give us a higher sense of the real issue. Is torture acceptable or not? With those types of scenarios things are put in perspective and it makes it more real. I agree with the view that if the U.S uses torture techniques there is lots to lose with our accountability. Since it tarnishes our name and is against what the U.S is known for. Yet we should worry more about our people and our safety then what other countries think of us. This type of issue is above our understanding of morals, since one has to do bad for the greater good.Joanna Garcianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-85085055936091004392012-03-26T19:33:30.813-07:002012-03-26T19:33:30.813-07:00Excellent points, Strebler.
'The hypocrisy o...Excellent points, Strebler. <br /><br />'The hypocrisy of condemning torture shows in the desire to be safe.' As a country, we have no wish to see our people killed. If the health of the enemy must be put beneath the safety of the people, so be it! War has never been a fair thing. We're just as bad as the bad guys sometimes, and all that really shows is that no one has the moral high ground in armed conflict.Davis Permannnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-20650528985537688682010-10-21T23:48:53.093-07:002010-10-21T23:48:53.093-07:00I agree with you that there are those special circ...I agree with you that there are those special circumstances where torture can be justified. The scenario you described with the man being tortured with his wife and kids was horrible and I really can't imagine anyone having come up with something as horrible as that, but I guess it does happen. I couldn't and I doubt that anyone could live knowing that millions of lives could have been spared because of them, because of one person who could be interrogated and perhaps tortured. It's worse, in my opinion, to see millions and millions of people utterly destroyed over one person who had a choice of being where he is. I wouldn't be able to stand by watching it especially if it was someone I knew.Bernee Francisconoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-80211885060872225442010-06-04T04:59:58.302-07:002010-06-04T04:59:58.302-07:00Some torture can be justified, but not extreme one...Some torture can be justified, but not extreme ones that lead to death. Any amount of people dying would be worth interrogating a terrorist for, and because we do torture, the number of people who may possibly die usually determine the intensity and the type of torture a terrorist may endure. There are alternative ways to get information out of people, and those alternatives should be explored before resorting to violence that could lead to death. “We Believe in treating people fairly, humanely, and with respect”, now, I would have to beg to differ, and wonder, who does? The world would be perfect if we could all live in peace, but most of us know, that’s not happening any time soon.Mikayla Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-88444134574243113452010-06-03T19:37:02.176-07:002010-06-03T19:37:02.176-07:00Mr. Strebler, your essay makes some very good poin...Mr. Strebler, your essay makes some very good points. It is true that the torture methods used by the US are milder than those of dictatorships such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia ect. It is also reasonable to assume that most people would support torture in the moment that one person had information that could take many lives, however, the purpose of a ban on torture and the Geneva conventions is to prevent heat of the moment decisions that are unethical.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04025593143190042741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-3799229839028128262010-06-02T23:16:53.658-07:002010-06-02T23:16:53.658-07:00I honestly do believe torture is acceptable under ...I honestly do believe torture is acceptable under these circumstances. If terrorist want to kill more than 10,000 people and we have a chance to stop it from happening, then hey why not? Yet I do think that when everyone found out about Guantanamo Bay, it gave the US a bad image since it is seen as the “leader of the free world”.GabriellaRehahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06379553564438958000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-23617233761232234182010-06-02T21:22:33.509-07:002010-06-02T21:22:33.509-07:00After reading your article, I agree that torture u...After reading your article, I agree that torture under extreme circumstances, where time is very limited and the potential for harm is very high, is a viable option. However, it is important to make the logic end there, as its use in general intelligence gathering seldom has such crushing time constraints or the extremely high potential for massive loss of life. In addition to the moral reasons for not doing torture, it is important to note that torture has been found to have limited value in acquiring useful intelligence.Kendennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-38284980580914112332010-06-01T21:37:03.832-07:002010-06-01T21:37:03.832-07:00I am open for both sides there is to torture. In s...I am open for both sides there is to torture. In some cases, like the scenario you outlined, I find it necessary. However, in others, the person might have had no connection whatsoever to a planned attack. There were 7.3 million people in jail or in probation in 2008. Furthermore, "The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, admits that statistically 8% to 12% of all state prisoners are either actually or factually innocent" truthandjusticedenied.com/Wrongful_Conviction_Statist.html). Jails for daily criminals and prisons where suspected terrorists are held are different but the point is,there must be some error and innocent lives could have been tortured. Despite this, I find it necessary in order to save countless lives.Jorge Saldananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-7107579104871287912010-04-30T15:43:57.013-07:002010-04-30T15:43:57.013-07:00Perhaps, Jaki. But the essay was written in respo...Perhaps, Jaki. But the essay was written in response to a specific situation (attorney general's beliefs on the issue vis a vis Iraqi prisoners), and you or anyone else should feel free to write about the issue as it applies in other situations.<br /><br />Still - the underlying thesis remains: Anyone who says that torture is NEVER justified, after considering the hypothetical situations in the essay, is simply not being truthful, or else they are - quite literally - irrational. sJon Streblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10728937479094566158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-80924144036213191312010-04-29T18:12:09.395-07:002010-04-29T18:12:09.395-07:00Torture is such a wider topic, I was almost disapp...Torture is such a wider topic, I was almost disappointed to read about such a small part of it. While we do use torture as a mean to get information, we also torture inmates just because. I don't think that focusing on just this bit of torture is as valid as what we could be focusing on, which is torture by a different, or many different names.Jaki Emathingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-84188538633929084092010-04-16T14:32:53.214-07:002010-04-16T14:32:53.214-07:00I now realize that torture is definately not a &qu...I now realize that torture is definately not a "Black and White" situation.It is much more complicated when it comes down to having the country in jepordy. I enjoyed this essay because it really made me think about what I would do in situations like that.Mayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04567258099266602567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-26686965974921940972010-01-25T21:33:35.777-08:002010-01-25T21:33:35.777-08:00In reading this essay, I am glad that I’m not the ...In reading this essay, I am glad that I’m not the one determining whether torture would be acceptable in a certain circumstance. At the begging of the essay I wasn’t clear exactly on what “water-boarding” was and since it was said it was some form of torture I immediately assumed that anyone who (Senate) would want to keep this around was someone out of their mind. The type of people that they use this form or any other form of torture to was terrorist, such as “Abu-Ghraib” and I think that it is unfair that they say that torture is illegal but they go and secretly torture people that are not from the U.S. If they say it is illegal do not try to justify what you are doing, do not use torture at all. In further reading, I read your example situation on how there are different scales of torture and If torture was legal than I would agree with using it in certain extreme circumstances. In addition, in reading more on what was “water-boarding” I do not feel that it was such an extreme form of torture knowing that the people were not being killed and were only trying to be scared. It is wrong again because it’s illegal but a thought form of torture that does not harm the criminal. Also, I agree that in saying that torture is illegal and then going and doing it anyways does “…gives our enemies more reason to berate us as hypocrites.) So I don’t understand why they don’t stop trying to act like the good guys and then go get caught in doing something bad, breaking their own laws. They should make up their mines and make torture legal or illegal. This would be difficult because keeping it illegal, it can sometimes be justified and if it was made legal, I feel that many would take advantage of this and torture the innocent.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08093282189824718925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-42149013444210871622010-01-25T19:30:06.207-08:002010-01-25T19:30:06.207-08:00Extra Credit
Hi Mr. Strebler, I enjoyed reading “...Extra Credit<br /> Hi Mr. Strebler, I enjoyed reading “We Don’t Torture.” This was a very interesting article that got me thinking about the torture, we as America, supposedly don’t condone.<br /> I found the point on the torture that went on in Iraq and Uganda repulsive. I don’t see how any human being could condone that. The people that participated in these acts must’ve been sick! I agree that on your scale of 1 through 100, this was an example of a sickening 100.<br /> I found your idea of the torture starting at a 70 valid because everything before that would be just about increasingly uncomfortable. This water boarding technique could be rated as a 75, unless done several times in which the idea you mentioned about physiological damage would apply greatly to the person being interrogated. <br /> I agree with the idea you bring up about us being the “great” land we are made out to be, but discrediting ourselves with torture amongst possible terrorists. Doesn’t this make us hypocrites? Yes, it does. Why torture when it can backfire on our own soldiers who may be tortured even worse in places of great hostility.<br /> The paragraph with the hypothetical story brings up an amazing point. Up to this point in my response, I believed that torture could not be condoned, but if hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of peoples lives were in danger, then we’d certainly torture the enemy to get the information we need to save those lives. Although this is a very controversial issue, I’m sure most sane people would save the lives of others rather than someone who is trying to destroy ours. Then another question is raised. What if it were smaller amount of people? What if we weren’t absolutely sure? What would we do? I’m sure our government wouldn’t hesitate to torture these enemies, but what if we weren’t sure they were planning anything? What do we do? These are BIG questions that can really have no straight answer due to the morality most of us have.<br /> For the final point, I would have to say that I agree because terrorists WILL know something of interest. I believe the U.S.’ torturing has indeed stop some events, whether small or big. <br /> So through reading this essay, I began to condone torture in some cases. Although it is not morally right in my eyes, I do believe it is the right thing to do if lives are in danger.<br /> ** I also submitted this essay and am re-submitting it now. In case you want proof, I have the hard copies you already graded.**Kalvin Paynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07440377344157725865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-34943952165061013272010-01-22T12:25:09.956-08:002010-01-22T12:25:09.956-08:00Torture is bad, But in a situation where the crimi...Torture is bad, But in a situation where the criminal doesnt want to spit out drastic information its necessary.Hasheem akbarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09244627448969471221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-44085319823312633082010-01-22T12:09:54.333-08:002010-01-22T12:09:54.333-08:00sTorture isn't something that anyone will ever...sTorture isn't something that anyone will ever agree on. I think that it should be allowed in special cases like the example you said about the head terrorist knowing. However, I don't think that torture should be something that is done secretly because when it gets out, the nation that did the torture will look worse than if they had already legalized the torture and had openly admitted to doing it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03793248696085066300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-13362668906672683042010-01-19T16:53:55.165-08:002010-01-19T16:53:55.165-08:00Torture can be excused if you are talking about in...Torture can be excused if you are talking about innocent lies at stake. If I was the leader of a nation I would rather torture a terrorist then put my citizens at risk. Although it would tarnish the name of my nation, I would know that it was for the greater good.Joannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406642724976120642.post-70675860306420847422009-10-18T17:39:48.104-07:002009-10-18T17:39:48.104-07:00Although torture is inhumane in some cases, i beli...Although torture is inhumane in some cases, i believe it needs to be done in certain circumstances. For example if it is a high priority, you don't do it, and something goes terribly wrong, you can be the one to tell their family, you had the chance to keep him safe.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06846732197995549755noreply@blogger.com