Sun Tzu says that
the ability for the general to know the veracity of information is
paramount. Information is obtained through spies, not captured
warriors. While deep in enemy territory, the last thing the general
should do is upset the population by doing further harm to their sons
and fathers. They must gather and not plunder. With a captured
soldier, the goal is to turn him into a double agent, a most valued
spy. Sun Tzu is clear about how the general is to treat the spy;
there is no cost of business, no extent of effort, no level of
intimacy, no limit of benevolence the general will deny the spy
because there is nothing more valuable in war than pertinent, useful,
valid information.
Torture produces
erratic information and eliminates any chance of cooperation. Only
the uneducated, unprepared, panicked, enraged leader employs this
emotionally-charged mistake. Sun Tzu has quite a bit to say about how
to get under the enemy general's skin. A clouded mind is more easily
defeated. Enhanced Interrogation Technique is an oxymoron because it
implies violence produces better information. There is no better
enhancement to interrogation than sincere kindness and levelheaded
asset assessment. Many of the first captured terrorists provided real
information before EIT was initiated. Then they stopped. Torture only
works on TV and at the time this abomination was instituted, more
than one show glorified this flawed logic. Torture is terrorism. The
Bush Administration tortured those men, not for information, but for
satisfaction; someone had to pay for the innocent blood shed that
day. Listen to the words the defenders continue to choose. Vengeance
still beats in their hearts.
The truth about
torture has been known for thousands of years. Torture is used to
punish your enemy by breaking their body, tearing open their mind,
and crushing their soul. It is a temporary, emotionally cleansing
ritual for the torturer and a permanent, horrific scar for the
tortured. The US has opened the book and aired the laundry; now it is
time for reckoning. If the US ever wants to stand upon that moral
high-ground again, it will bring those responsible to justice. Until
this happens, America's light dims and the world is a darker place.
In the contemporary home of the brave there is little hope of this as
the track-record is dismal. Bankers. Cops. Private armies. CEOs.
Politicians. It appears that when we wield enough power in the
country of equality, liberty, and justice for all, true justice seems
to apply to just us.
United we stand.
Divided we fall.
