Cheney gets worse every time. This time, torture.
Dick Cheney was rather clear about the administration's attitude towards torture: "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?" Scott Hennen of WDAY in Fargo, N.D., asked Cheney on Tuesday. "Well, it's a no-brainer for me." Officials tried to distinguish the VP's remarks from waterboarding, but no interpretation, including the literal, could be taken to mean anything but torture.
Because no one ever truly knows, this posture means that anyone suspected of knowing--a determination made by the White House--gets the treatment. Torture, then, is an accepted policy norm, an expression of its political values, no different from tax policy.
Torture is antithetical to universal liberal values-- inherent value of human life, individual agency, personal security, liberty. It is wrong on its own accord. Arguments against it do not need to rely on its lack of value as an interrogation technique--people will say anything if you torture them--or the lack of limits on its use, or how it damages America's standing in the world, and America's, or anyone's, ability to promote the aforementioned liberal values.
The use of torture compromises the value of American democracy because it violates the values on which our political system has been built, on which the rights we cherish were adopted, and on which Civil Rights leaders, feminists, and others have fought for progress.
A range of voices, including Republicans, Democrats and other critics, have made a similar case before. However, Cheney's recent remarks show how little he, and the administration really care about the sanctity of sacred liberal values.
Because no one ever truly knows, this posture means that anyone suspected of knowing--a determination made by the White House--gets the treatment. Torture, then, is an accepted policy norm, an expression of its political values, no different from tax policy.
Torture is antithetical to universal liberal values-- inherent value of human life, individual agency, personal security, liberty. It is wrong on its own accord. Arguments against it do not need to rely on its lack of value as an interrogation technique--people will say anything if you torture them--or the lack of limits on its use, or how it damages America's standing in the world, and America's, or anyone's, ability to promote the aforementioned liberal values.
The use of torture compromises the value of American democracy because it violates the values on which our political system has been built, on which the rights we cherish were adopted, and on which Civil Rights leaders, feminists, and others have fought for progress.
A range of voices, including Republicans, Democrats and other critics, have made a similar case before. However, Cheney's recent remarks show how little he, and the administration really care about the sanctity of sacred liberal values.
posted by Sam at 1:30 PM
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