I have an idea.
If we as a society are so intent on using torture as a way of protecting our country, then let’s have some real skin in the game. I will stipulate to the use of torture by our government if our government stipulates to a little quid pro quo.
It goes like this: So long as the people doing the torturing—or “enhanced interrogation” as they politely call it—are right, then no harm, no foul. However, if the people doing the torturing (including those who ordered it) are wrong, then those people ought to be subjected to whatever atrocities were visited upon the innocent party or parties.
This policy of geese and ganders certainly seems fair to me. If you’re going to “rectally rehydrate” or waterboard someone, you really ought to be damn sure the person you’re torturing really has the information you need, that the information is of critical importance to saving the lives of Americans, and that you’re not just fishing for any information you can extract. You also had better not be profiling based on race or religion.
And if you’re wrong, get ready to have your worst day at work—ever.
The same goes for holding someone without formal charges (or informal ones, it appears). For every day someone is chained to a wall in cold, dark cell, deprived of food and sleep will be a day you spend in exactly the same deplorable conditions. Make sure to kiss your wife and kids before leaving for work. Who knows when you’ll see them next?
We’ll find out right quick how we really feel about torture, won’t we?
