jamescuarterodotcom

the newest frontline is a must-see. titled the torture question, it looks at how the viciousness of interrogation methods have been amped up exponentially under increasing pressure to produce intelligence in a post-911 world. it’s an unpleasant but necessary debate that raises the question: are coercive methods of interrogation that go way beyond the scope of the geneva convention justified in cases where we’re dealing with terrorists?

think about it; these aren’t prisoners of war who are adhering to guidelines for war or belong to a sovereign nation’s armed forces. these are people who dress as civilians and have no qualms ambushing and killing americans under that guise. do they deserve the same rights as POWs, especially when conventional intelligence and information is so valued and hard to come by?

much of the piece also details the history of guantanamo bay and abu gharaib, how they developed a policy of interrogation that narrows the definition of torture to a level that borders on sadism, and how this policy was handed down directly from the secretary of defense in response to a lack of useful intelligence from the current interrogation techniques.

these are cold times and i don’t consider myself particularly naive. i realize that our military and government does (has historically done and will continue to do) a lot of dark and dirty things in the name of national security that we as a people are better off not knowing about. would it have been justified to brutalize someone with information that could have stopped the events from 9/11 from happening? taken a step further, would it be worth doing the same to a hundred people? a thousand?

i’m just expounding on a few points, this program brings up a lot more. you can view the episode online with added interviews, analysis and articles. highest recommendation.