Torture is not an Art of War: Torture is Terrorism

Critical, wartime information that directly saved countless lives is the justification still given by those defending the torture described in the recent US Senate report. Even the most casual student of the Master Sun Tzu [The Art of War] will recognize the absurdity of this argument. 

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.