Sunday, March 9, 2008

Fighting Evil at All Levels

It has become voguish to deride certain decisions made by the current Presidential administration. I have mixed feelings or am undecided about certain things. US presence in Iraq is one of those nebulous things.

There are other actions taken in the past few years for which I have clear feelings. The US should be in Afghanistan. The Patriot Act is a clear attack on US individual rights, and claiming "it's to protect us" is no better than a teary-eyed "it's for the children".

One issue that I have extremely strong feelings regarding is the use of torture. Let where I stand be crystal clear: the sole coercive element of capture of prisoners of war- or even outright criminals- should be their lack of freedom. They should not be deprived of sleep; they should not be subjected to pain; and they most certainly should not be threatened with drowning.

President Bush on 8 March 2008 defended the use of torture by the CIA. By "specialized interrogation procedures", he means torture. For this, he should be indicted, imprisoned, and receive appropriate punishment. Since Amendment 8 of the Bill of Right of the US Constitution specifically prohibits "cruel and unusual" punishments, he cannot legally be tortured, despite his crimes. He should, however, receive due process of US Law, followed by a firing squad.

2 comments:

Asphyxiated Emancipation said...

Amen.

Matt G said...

John, I sadly agree with every word you wrote in this post.

EVERY WORD.

Keep saying it.


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