Alright, I'll play devil's advocate. The Israelis have had success with such tactics when they know there's a bomber coming but they don't know where. They get rough with the right people and they manage to keep bad things from happening. Or at least they feel they keep more bad things from happening than were they not getting rough.
And at what point do you define something as torture? Note the changes over time as to what is considered cruel and unusual punishment.
I'd be very interested in seeing documentation on how often Israel gets real information, bad information, and no information from it's torture practices. Absent that, I have trouble taking a claim that they -- unique amongst torturers ever -- get consistently good results.
As a second issue, I'll also state uneqivocally that even if Israel had a 100% success rate with torture, that doesn't make it morally acceptable. Israel's permission of torture is one of the most damning things about them.
(no subject)
And at what point do you define something as torture? Note the changes over time as to what is considered cruel and unusual punishment.
(no subject)
As a second issue, I'll also state uneqivocally that even if Israel had a 100% success rate with torture, that doesn't make it morally acceptable. Israel's permission of torture is one of the most damning things about them.