US use torture?

[winn421]

It's often hard to tell the over-the-top jingoism of Americans from parody.

Many of them appear to take inspiration from great American comedians such as GW Bush, who amuses us all when he emphasises the need to "fight for freedom", while giving the NSA carte-blanche to spy upon American citizens.

We'll have to leave it to WeeMonkeySparky to confirm if they intended sarcasm or not.

[Peanuts42]

Lets not get nasty, this thread will be teetering on the edge of a padlock because it involves American politics as it is, lets keep the cheap shots for page 27 when the reasoned debate has died

[jasper]

double post

[CuteyRachels]

This kind of a thread will always teeter on the edge of a padlock regardless.

The question asked is a forgone conclusion if you do your reading up.

It's not just the Americans. It's just the Americans at the moment.
The Brits and every other government or empire has had their day in the sun. When that day is done and the sun has set and everyone is living comfortably off the proverbial fat gained from their countries plunder it becomes the moral high horse they jump and start to point the finger at others.

Nothing original in this. Same hobby horse... different day.

[DIPSET]

I think the reason its being made such into such a big deal [not that it shouldn't be] is that the world is just waiting for the US to get caught out, nothing would satisfy the non US masses more than George W Bush being led into a war crimes tribunal, the thought alone makes me smile

[RachelleG]

Holyheadjch,
Yeah but we know it won't happen. Why would it? History is littered with other western power leaders that are just as bad if not worse than George Bush... and they never have even come close to a war crime tribunal. So I don't think Bush will fare any worse.

Everyone loves to moan about the problems but very few are willing to end their reliance on oil for their lifestyles. Oil is more than just fuel... plastics, derivatives and the other products and whatnot that come from it give westerners the life they have come to think of as a right. So until the day that reliance on oil changes I don't think your going to see leaders like George W. Bush hauled up on war crimes charges.

Besides if they did haul him up... it would screw up the whole system for the Brits and the Europeans as well. If it wasn't the Americans in there it'd be someone else... France had it's shirt up because when Americ rolled in the French lost lucrative contracts they had set up with the Iraqi's. The Brits have oil interests in the middle east and south asia that are easily some of the largest in the world... so I think I'm safe in saying that no one is going to be rocking the boat while they're lining their pockets. Not Britain, not France... nobody.

[Mariyana]

Ooft, where'd the oil thing come from, the middle east relies on the export of oil as much as the west relies on receiving it. If anything, GWB is worsening the situation. Lets not get into the environmental issue, everyone knows that the US is undermining all efforts to reduce pollution, but I dont see how this has anything to do with George Bush being indicted for war crimes. He wont be president much longer [unless he installs himself as lord over all creation before the end of his second term] and after that he is of no consequence, so we can make a special rendition for him, take him to an eastern european country and introduce him to Big Ali and Beefy Bushra

[zbalat]

Unfortunately, I could catch alot of flack for this, but I DO believe in SOME instances (SOME), torture is a necessary evil

[RH]

Information from torture is unreliable, it worsens international relations, and occasionally you are gonna torture someone innocent.

[RosieL]

Sort of like killing innocent civillians during a war, heh? War is an ugly animal that has many bad sides to it, one of which is innocent people getting killed or tortured.

I do believe that some kind of 'torture' is necessary to get information. Do you really think that capturing someone and feeding them regularly and letting them watch TV is going to get you valuable info??? Not likely.