Torture

"The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men, by putting them to torture, produces nothing worthwhile. The poor wretches say anything that comes into their mind and what they think the interrogator wishes to know." —From a Napoleon Letter to Louis Alexandre Berthier in November 1798.

Torture can either be viewed as a punishment or as a way to gain life-saving intelligence. International conventions prohibit the former. Psychology studies suggest it's ineffective at the latter. Which brings us, once again, back to the question: Why do it?

Notes

• Observations on the CIA Torture Report. Posted 12/30/2014.
• Latin America Has a Few Lessons for the US On Torture. Posted 12/25/2014. In Brazil, the National Truth Commission submitted its final report. It was the first time that the Brazilian state began to account for its human rights violations and atrocities during the military regime of 1964-85. This forced a public discussion on a regime that Brazil had previously buried in the past.
• New Poll Finds 59% of Americans Support Post 9/11 Torture – Propaganda, Cultural Sickness, Or Both? Posted 12/16/2014. The report concluded that controversial interrogation techniques — including waterboarding detainees, placing them in stress positions and keeping them inside confinement boxes — were not an effective means of acquiring intelligence.
• Two psychologists' role in CIA torture program comes into focus. Posted 12/14/2014.

Notes from the Senate Intelligence Committee report

Napoleon vs. Cheney: "Interrogation That Actually Works"; Icing on the "Hate-Cake". Posted 12/17/2014. Primary article reviewing this important subject.

Many of the interrogators' actions were shocking and cruel, but some might argue (and some have argued) that torture is a necessary tool for extracting information. This, too, is dubious. The Senate investigation revealed that the CIA learned most of the valuable intelligence it gathered during this period through other means.

Military leaders have known about the pointlessness of torture for centuries.