For those who support water-boarding... a question?

Question

If you think it's a good and effective way to get information from someone... would you object to your child's school water-boarding your child in order to get information out of him or her?

After all, it's just a little discomfort, right? And it works? So why not do it to our kids?

Okay, for all of you who think that the worst thing a kid can do is cheat on a test... what if there were bomb parts found in the kid's locker? Water-boarding okay then?

Answer 1

I think everyone is missing the point to her question. The question is directed towards people who claim water-boarding is not torture. If it's not torture, then why not use it on your own children. In other words, put your money where your mouth is. If it's so mellow, then why not subject your children to it.

I don't believe that the water-boarding supporters actually believe it's NOT torture. This question proves that they agree it's torture. I think they're just defending Bush like they always do.

Great question. You won't get one honest answer from the water-boarding fan club.

Answer 2

OK, I know the drill.

Best Answer goes to some foo-foo, bleeding heart answer you want to hear. Well, how about listening to a realistic point of view?

Coersive techniques are necessary to obtain information that is critical to winning victory in a war. The United States tries its best to always act honorably. Any techniques we use to extract information pale in comparison with the treatment that prisoner would receive in his own country.

Admit it, if you had to be sent to some armpit country for interrogation, or to the U.S.A., you would burst into tears begging to be sent to America, and not to one of those Third World hell holes.

What would you prefer, that we just let some smug, grinning terrorist taunt his captors, telling them that can't lay a finger on him, and that hundreds of their comrades will die as a consequence? Do you know why it is commonplace at Gitmo that the detainees throw urine and feces at the guards? Because they can do it with no fear of harsh reprisal. Do that in some stinking third world country and you're in deep doo-doo.

You think places like France are better than the U.S.A.? Think again. Even their policemen are brutal. L.A. cops can't hold a candle to their overt actions.

What would you prefer, that a prisoner, someone who is trying to destroy the U.S.A. be physically tortured somewhere like Pakistan, the kind of torture that leaves lasting physical trauma? Or would you rather that he be subjected to a technique that cannot physically harm him? He only has the sensation of drowning, and it is so frightening that most of these guys are immediately willing to talk. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Is waterboarding painful? Well, it's more terrifying than painful. The plus side is that there is no physical damage. If the scumbag terrorist wants to divulge information, he will not have any lasting damage. The next day, it will be like nothing ever happened.

Waterboarding is a humane way to get vital information that will save innocent lives. Ask some guy who was strung up in Saddam's nightmarish prisons, tortured with electricty and bone-snapping techniques, and ask him what he'd prefer.

Care to guess the answer?

Once a prisoner has been waterboarded once, he knows he can't face it again. When he is asked questions, he is likely to tell the truth for he knows his interrogators will verify what he is saying. If anything, waterboarding is a way for him to "come clean" about what he knows, without any disgrace. His group will not condemn him for divulging information because they know that resistance is next to impossible. Most people last under one minute.

Lastly, why do you put the "rights" of the terrorists above the well-being and safety of America? We are one of the very few countries on earth that tries to make a difference. When disaster strikes, we are the first on the scene with medical help, logistical assistance, and tons of supplies.

Regarding children, let me say that, if they were taught by nuns, you wouldn't need any type of physical threat. The nun would simply have to look at the student with that crushing look of disapproval, that look that reminds the child about all the lessons he has learned about goodness and honesty, and the kid will be shamed into behaving.

Regarding the unlikely scenario of bomb parts in a child's locker (boy are you really reaching to make a point!), the typical child; scared, intimidated by adults in authority, would quickly be persuaded to tell the truth. A child is a far cry from a terrorist camp-trained insurgent (at least in the neighborhood I grew up in). :)

Answer 3

Not one of your better questions.

Yes, I support water-boarding. The difference is that we are talking life and death, and saving lives.

If you can make the case that water-boarding a school child will reveal information that can prevent terroist attacks and save lives, and other more conventional methods will be ineffective, I will support that as well. Furthermore you must also have good cause to believe that school child actually has the information.

Answer 4

No, it's a lot of discomfort. It's supposed to be.

Here's one for you. A kidnapper has taken your child. The police have him in custody, and he reveals that your child will be dead in 2 hours. He will not reveal the location of your child.

Does he go for a dip on the water board?

Answer 5

If t thought my child had information as to where terrorists would attack next I would do it myself.

The school should not do anything to my child that I am not willing to do myself.

I support any and all methods for getting useful info out of terrorists.

Answer 6

Seems a twisted way to lobby for a compliment, but...you're smarter than this.

There is simply no possibility to create a moral equivalency between the measured plying of avowed terrorists for operational info and disciplining talkative school kids.

(I'm betting the 22 Algerians that were just atomized by those two car bombs wish they were forewarned--and forearmed--with just such intell)

Answer 7

That is ridiculous.... I hope you are not someone who is trying to protect the rights of people who want you dead. Waterboarding is a tactic that has already prevented attacks and put bad people away.

So if your kid was a potential murderer - or terrorist - sure let them waterboard him/her

Now a question for you - Would you let murderers and terrorists teach or watch your children? They are humans right? and you want them to have all the rights other people have? Let them come baby sit your kids...

Answer 8

Waterboarding is only for terrorists. It is not a general public item. I would object to using this on Americans, especially children

Answer 9

any information you get out of a kid at school isnt gonna save lives in the war, theres no comparison.

Answer 10

I am against torture. I wouldn't want it done to me, so I think it's immoral to allow it to be done to others.

For those who support government sanctioned torture, just remember that an empire built on suffering is evil by its very nature.