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Entry: Mr. bin Laden, Meet Mr. Kennan--A New Containment Policy Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/mr_bin_laden_meet_mr_kennan_a_new_containment_policy#19606 Post contents: “When the lives of thousands, possibly millions is at stake, waterboarding is a proportionate response.” Problem is, according to authorities no less practiced than former KGB officers, torture is a poor way to extract information. The torture “subject” tends to tell his tormentors anything they WANT to hear – not necessarily what they NEED to hear; torture victims say anything to make the torture stop. Also, remember at issue is an enemy committed and disciplined enough to fly planes into buildings and set off bomb vests in crowds of bazaar shoppers; far from spilling their guts, zealots of that stripe just may see torture as a martyrdom aperitif. But the biggest problem with torture is that once the “ticking time bomb” criteria is applied, everything becomes a ticking time bomb, and Mr. Capp’s Case of the Missing Cookies will become justification for lashing people to racks. Somehow, we got through 215-plus years as a republic without institutionalizing torture as a judicial tool. The tragedy of 9/11 didn’t reverse the physical laws of the universe, didn't turn black into white or salt into pepper. It didn't transform human morality into characterless squalor. It was an horrific event. We deal with horrific events without ourselves becoming horrific. Sent at: 2008 08 21