Torture?

Sane perspective from the Wall St. Journal on the “torture” issue versus an insane perspective on torture from the NYT.

The latter compares the CIA’s proposition to use a caterpillar against one individual known to be terrified of insects to terrorists bringing a disease that’s worse than West Nile Virus to the US.  Um… what?  There’s a slight difference in degree there.  The CIA didn’t threaten the Arab world with the spread of Malaria, it used a harmless bug to try to scare a guy, something every five year old boy in the world has done to his female classmates and/or siblings.  I agree that bugs can be used as weapons of physical and psychological war, but in this case the CIA was depending on the man’s illogical fear of bugs, rather than the inherent viciousness of the caterpillar.  Get real people.

The Left decries that the Right supports torture.  This is not true.  The Right is against torture as well.  The question is what constitutes torture?  I think depriving someone of sleep is not torture.  For casual John Q. Citizen, a night where you are woken up (by a baby or dog) might be described as “torturous” as hyperbole, but in the legal and moral sense of the word, it is not torturous; it’s simply a bad night.  Putting someone on the rack is torture.  Pulling off fingernails is torture.  Anything that causes lasting physical or, within reason, psychological harm should be considered torture.  In my opinion, making someone think they are drowning (when they are not actually drowning) for 20-40 seconds when precautions are taken to ensure that water never enters the lungs and should that occur, medical professionals are present, is not torture. Uncomfortable?  Yes.  Eternally painful and/or life threatening?  No.  Keep in mind that many of the same people that consider such methods torture also consider spanking to be child abuse.  (Then they wonder why their kids are hellions and have supposed ADD problems.)