Torture

Postrel writes about torture, which happens every day in prisons and we make jokes about it, yet there's an outrage about the prisoner abuse in Cuba and Iraq.

I haven't written much about it, because sadly, I don't care all that much...does that sound inhuman? I don't think we ought to be torturing people for sport - anyone who does that is a sick bastard and should be dealt with - harshly. Yet at the same time, I'd not terribly adverse to using sketchy methods to get information from our enemies. I don't have a problem delegating that authority to "experts." Is that against the Geneva Convention? I guess so. Does that make me a bad person? I suppose. But to me, if the choice is between being nice and winning a war, I choose winning the war any day.

Note: many people argue that torture has proven to not be an effective way of interrogating folks. Fine, if that's the case, I'm all for not torturing. However, I wonder if there isn't a bit of cognitive dissonence going on with that type of thinking....

Also note: Opening up the door to torture is a slippery slope. You don't want to unleash the darkest, ugliest sides of human nature in ourselves. That can quickly spiral out of control.

I think universal outrage over the issue is the easy way out. Consistency is the hobgoblin of simple minds.