Quite apart from my personal reactions to the memos, there is the question of how well the system of interrogation they describe works
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these are issues about which reasonable persons may disagree
No, they are not.
Reasonable persons may disagree on whether random slapping is torture. Reasonable persons do not disagree on whether sleep deprivation or waterboarding is torture.
Only over-rationalizing persons with an agenda to serve disagree on these things, and they find themselves unable to explain the rationalization in a way that makes sense to reasonable persons.
Dammit, we need an official court ruling to establish a precedent that "if a 9-year-old of average intelligence and non-traumatized background can see through your argument, it is not legally sound."
It's taken me most of the evening, reading a bit then walking away to take deep breaths and pet the dog, to read your take on this stuff. And getting your take on it was one of the first things I wondered about when the memos were released.
But when I sat to do msg you and ask if you'd had the time to look over them... I found couldn't do that. If you wanted to talk about it or needed to talk aobut it, sign me up. But my military childhood and military spouse experience toldme that we don't ask our troops to talk about it. We don't pry.
It's going to take me days to assimilate this information, and then I know I am going to be cold and angry and wanting answers. T
Thanks for taking the time to write all this out. I imagine it was pretty difficult for you, though I also appreciate that you may have felt it was something you ought to do. It's certainly good, from my POV, to see this analysis from someone with your expert knowledge.
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A journalist who has been upset at torture for several years and written about it extensively:
http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2009/04/17/on-torture.aspx#comments
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No, they are not.
Reasonable persons may disagree on whether random slapping is torture. Reasonable persons do not disagree on whether sleep deprivation or waterboarding is torture.
Only over-rationalizing persons with an agenda to serve disagree on these things, and they find themselves unable to explain the rationalization in a way that makes sense to reasonable persons.
Dammit, we need an official court ruling to establish a precedent that "if a 9-year-old of average intelligence and non-traumatized background can see through your argument, it is not legally sound."
Reply
Reply
But when I sat to do msg you and ask if you'd had the time to look over them... I found couldn't do that. If you wanted to talk about it or needed to talk aobut it, sign me up. But my military childhood and military spouse experience toldme that we don't ask our troops to talk about it. We don't pry.
It's going to take me days to assimilate this information, and then I know I am going to be cold and angry and wanting answers. T
Reply
Thanks for taking the time to write all this out. I imagine it was pretty difficult for you, though I also appreciate that you may have felt it was something you ought to do. It's certainly good, from my POV, to see this analysis from someone with your expert knowledge.
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