Why is it that some people refuse to see the difference between interrogation and torture?

Question

Can we do ANYTHING past the point of "asking politely"? What if it was your son or daughter's life at stake?
Can we NOT keep a room cold?
Can we NOT keep someone awake?
Can we NOT make someone listen to lousy music?
Can we NOT allow someone to be interrogated by a woman EVEN if it is against their religious beliefs?

John McCain was NOT interrogated. He was tortured. Anyone who can't see the diffence is an idiot.
No one is suggesting that the same things done to McCain be done to our detainies.

They have bee successful in gaining USEFUL info with these methods. Why whould we NOT use them?

Answer 1

Some people hate the idea of any violence, and want the world to be a bastion of spontaneous, nonviolent, peaceful coexistence. To this end, they equate bamboo chutes up fingernails with sleep deprivation; or more practically perhaps disciplinary spanking with sexual abuse. All forms of violence are wrong, particularly if not exclusively when America (which is always "wrong") is the actor in any way, shape or form.

Of course, (to such persons) the definition of "right" is rarely if ever a positive set of values - rather the absence of pain or discomfort. It is in this moral confusion that the nations and institutions charged with carrying out justice are undermined by the people they serve to protect, even while totalitarian regimes and sects are allowed to expand and employ their true torture techniques in increasingly innovative ways.

In the end, we find two results:
1.) The power of interrogation decreases through domestic limitation, while the power of torture increases through expanded foreign state/terror network oppression.
2.) America's methods of information extraction include an increasingly limited definition of interrogation, while the enemy's methods for all manners of coercion reign unchecked.

The best case motivation for certain people's refusal to differentiate interrogation from torture is ignorance. After that comes Anti-Americanism, and after that comes outright support for terrorism. While the intent is hopefully in most cases the most former example, the result remains the same as that of those who oppose or even actively seek the destruction of America.

Answer 2

Because in a lot of instances torture is used to interogate-which means to ask questions to get answers. When a room is so cold that people in the room shiver and often the people in that room are not wearing clothes and if you are in this room for many hours even days then it is torture-to keep somone awake for days is to break down their resistance---to force a peron to go without sleep is to put their health at grave risk, to haav ealoud music blaring constantly for days is torture for when they say loud so loud it hurts the ears and affects the hearing, to not rspect a person's reliion is in violation of the Geneva convention-enough said. Keep in mind that in the war with Korea and then later VietNam-keeping someone awake endlessly,Freezing (the real meaning of old, rooms,loud noise for days so loud the ears actually hurt, were all esp in Korea techniques used to break the spirit of the US soldiers,to wear them down physically,mentally and emotionally so they would be conductive to Brain Washing and how incensed we were was a little kid but remember the objections against those technigues and the broken men that came back. You should also then ask yourself --Can They---for if we can so can they-anyone that holds a American Prisoner and also any other counry can re-interpret now the Geneva Convention and Rewrite to justify torture now of US Soldiers. This is going to backfire very badly against not you ,not me certainly not those in the Govt that pushed this through,certainly not Bush----but against the sons ,daughters who serve,protct our US

Answer 3

Torture implies physical or psychological harm.

Interrogation is asking questions.

It's worth noting that such practices as sleep deprivation and the use of culture shock are counterproductive where interrogation is concerned; those tactics increase the likelihood of incorrect answers to questions, or outright lies. That's what stress produces.

Answer 4

Torture is punishment for something you did Interrogation is you knowing something someone stronger then you wants to know so they torture you

Answer 5

From being in trouble as a teen and from talking to others that have been interror-gated I promise you it is the same thing. Only one is done to scare you into thinking you will die and the other scares you that you will be put in prison or jail and be a sex slave for Bubba. You get beat in both. One is to find out if you did something and the other is to find out who is going to do something.

Both are needed. I would never tell you anything that I did not want you to know if you was asking nice. Would anyone else?

Answer 6

Have you ever been "interrogated"?

Maybe you should pay attention to people like John McCain who have been POWs.

Edit . . .

Well, John McCain AND Colin Powell both objected to the way the Bush administration was "interrogating prisoners"as they felt if violated geneva conventions, international law, and put our own troops in danger of receiving the same treatment.

They both are conservative republicans with military records.

Answer 7

I have no idea.... I can't figure some people out.. first they want a safe country.. but then they want to fight everything the government does to try and make our country safe... Stick all of AlQaida in a dang cold room, force them to stay awake with the extremely loud rock n roll music with a woman badgering them asking question after question(because women are best at it) God forbid they get a dang headache

Answer 8

They darned well know the difference between interrogation and torture. I'm with you.

Answer 9

It's just so much smokescreen to keep people from realizing whats really going on. The only people that abide by the Geneva convention are our allies-people we never fight , our enemies never do abide by it .Yet some people want to tie our hands in this fight just so they can say what a poor job. We have some great Americans always leaking our secrets out giving them away to the enemy and they have the gall to criticize their own gov.

Answer 10

We can and do those things to our military recruits.

Of course, there is the fact that the Geneva Conventions do not protect Al Qaeda, meaning that they can be shoved into a woodchipper and no harm, no foul.