And since we’re on the subject of torture…
Apparently there’s been a lot of talk about torture in the media the past few days, and some folks disagree with the idea of mentally or physically abusing another human being in order to gain information. I thought that I’d share a few thoughts with you fine folks as to my point of view on this rather touchy subject
Ya know, walking through a minefield is a special hell like you’ve never imagined. Time slows down to the individual heartbeat, and your mind races to a point where you might just think you’ll go insane. It could be forty degrees out and the sweat pouring off your forehead will blur your vision. You’ll overcompensate by squinting and desperately wipe at your eyes to clear things up. Your hearing will become some sort of super hearing to compensate and at some point, the sound of two earthworms fucking will become clear as a bell.
After a while, you’ll start hearing, and seeing things that have no real meaning, but you’ll be certain they do. You’ll start to lose it. Slowly at first, but it’ll catch up with the toughest alive. Soon enough, you’ll just be wanting to purposely hit a mine in order to get it over with. At this point you’re only one hundred feet in, and have another six hundred feet to get to safety.
What if it’s your family or friends in that field (in the Infantry, they’re both) and you’ve captured a suspect/terrorist/soldier who knows the location of the mines? Or at least you’re fairly certain that he does. Not 100% positive, but pretty damn close. Close enough for government work anyway.
Sure, your boys have already strip searched the guy and have come up with nothing but photos of his wife and kids, or maybe a letter from his mom. Harmless enough.
You tell me. What do you do?
17 comments Og | Uncategorized
Would the bloke happed to be circumcised YET?
Richard Marcinko has written about walking point… his description is “you’re doing it right when EVERYTHING hurts”.
Incidentally, he said in his books that he wasn’t good at walking point – he had a point man, and he considered him one step short of God for being able to walk point consistently and not break.
Personally? If somebody has information that will help me keep my friends/family safe… they’d by God better tell me, or I’m liable to pry it out of them at the point of a Gerber.
I haven’t sworn any oaths, and I never signed the Geneva Conventions – I expect no good treatment, as I don’t wear a uniform, and I’ll only offer as good as I expect.
The well-being of my family and friends comes first.
Aaron,
walking point is probably the most exhilarating thing a man could ever do in his life.
After asking him nicely (!) (at least stopping short of incapacitating him), I’d have HIM go first, tethered of course.
Hmm, never experiencing the mine field scenario I can only guess. In these current times I would start by clothing the guy with a freshly cut pig-skin suit, complete with a snout hood, cloven hoofed slippers and natural red lining. Then put him in a windowless single bedded cell with a detailed map of the terrain where my family and friends are. For his roommate, a gay Sumo wrestler who harbors a thumbtack fetish would seem to be the natural choice.
If that didn’t work…I guess I’d have to consider torture, maybe even water boarding.
I’d have him go first even if he provided a detailed map of the minefield.
This bullshit about “torture” in a “them or us” situation is exactly that: Bullshit.
How many seconds did it take to sweat KSM on the waterboard? Not very many. Seems pretty efficient to me, and non-lethal at that.
In a world where the enemy thinks nothing of torture and murder of prisoners, I don’t have a lot of trouble with the mild punishments our left wing call “torture”.
I abhor torture, for multiple reasons, including false confessions, and the increased likelihood of bad information. That said, once 100% sure of a terrorist’s guilt, my morality voice is still present but weak. For regular criminals, it is still there, but for terrorists, no, it is a weak weak voice.
All of that aside, if I have innocent friends who can be saved by my actions, I’m likely to throw myself at the courts and deal with my own consequences later.
“You tell me. What do you do?”
If it’s my family at stake? Car battery. Testicles. Just remember, red is positive, black is negative.
Thanks for playing.
BBBRRRSZZZZZZAAAAPPPPP!!!!
Well, perhaps I have read the Geneva accords the wrong way. If we were dealing with a member of some nations “Armed Forces”, a legitimate military combatant, then I would have “some issues” with real torture. (and waterboarding, though effective, does not to my mind count as such … YMMV) This being said, if the individual we are dealing with is one of the many scumbags that fall under the heading(s) of “terrorist”, or islam following terrorist (yes, that is redundant, and yes I didn’t capitalize islam … it don’t rate a capital), and or member of hamas, they don’t fall under the Accords. But are the same as spys and such. So torture away gents. A skilled practitioner of the art, need not use a lot of pain. There are ways to trick the mind and body to achieve desired results. excessive blood and gore are the mark of either a sadist or rank amateur.
In order to save family, (fellow service types or blood relatives) yeah do what needs to be done, but do it right.
Do whatever you need to as long as he can still talk after to tell us what we want to know. . . . as Guy S said, he is a terrorist, not a member of the military. No matter who they are I would say if we know they have tortured our guys then they get the same or worse as long as they can talk in the end. . .
Screw the Geneva accords. Nobody pays any attention to them but us.
Nathan you are absolutely correct. Geneva conventions and the like are always held up as what we have to conform to, but the other side ignores them.
I’ve heard the terrorists actually gain weight in Guantanamo.
Maybe they should amke it a MLT vacation for us law abiding types.
“Oh Sargent Barclay, my mug is empty…”
“I’ve heard the terrorists actually gain weight in Guantanamo.”
Well now you see, we’ve ruined their figures! That’s torture as far as much of the cultural “elite” in our country is concerned.
“Well now you see, we’ve ruined their figures!”
Oh! The horror!
As long as it is practical, and effects good information, and not just something he’d say just to make us stop, then take whatever means necessary to get the info. The victor has the luxury of remorse later on.
In matters like this, the religious side of my nature seems to get overtaken by the secular humanist. And that part says who cares about the other side. Since my side’s well-being is of no importance to him, his is none to me. Douse him in fuel and start fiddling with a lighter, if it gets him to fess up.
But just don’t waste my time. In a situation like that, torture for the sake of just abusing the guy is a waste of time better off spent finding a better way to get the info.
I hear the IDF has done a remarkable job of developing interrogation techniques that get the info they want without what we’d call torture.