Humanity rests in the soul, not the body.
No, terrorists are not human.
“Hate-filled dyslexic prick”? I take exception to that, my good SentientMeat. I take great pride in my good grammar and articulation. I am most certainly not dyslexic. You owe me an apology for that.
I thank you, though, for the link to Leo Strauss, the father of neoconservatism. I notice that he was born in 1899. Why, then, did you refer to neoconservatism as a “2000 year old philosophy”? Your arguments are poor and I am deeply suspicious of your motives, sir.
Problem is that it’s kinda hard to tell them apart from the humans, looking so similar and all.
You have no fucking idea what you’e talking about.
There is no category of “terrorist” which is either defined under the Geneva Convention, nor excluded from it. There is no category of human being whatsoever which is excluded from the protections of the Genveva convention. There is no class of humans which it is legal to torture.
The word “terrorist” has no legal meaning. It’s just a rhetorical term, not some technical class or category of human for which there is any licit justification for torture.
You also still have to prove people committed crimes in a court of law before you can “punish” them. That’s the way it works in civilized countries.
What kind of stupid shit is this? What the fuck is a “soul?”
Roseworm, if you wish to convince me of your reading ability, you must read the actual words I write.
Yes, yes, we can all score soaring rhetorical points that don’t pertain to the subject at hand.
The subject at hand, of course, is whether terrorists may technically be tortured. Technically, under the Geneva Convention, they may not be, any more than Bosnians may be tortured if their Serbian tormentors don’t consider Bosnians to be human.
Daniel
Put him through some rigamarole designed to convince him that he’d been in suspended animation for a couple of centuries, and set him up in a Potemkin village where every Friday service consists of breast-beating apologies for the evils of 20th-21st century Islam and resolutions to be more sensitive and accomodating to the feelings of women, gays, and the differently-religious (uttering the “I-Word” is simply not done!).
I honestly don’t think it will; hate will consume you alive - you have set out to turn yourself into the evil thing that the terrorists might currently (falsely) believe you to be, for no actual gain; Hate won’t stop terrorism, it will just suck you down alongside it.
I’ll get back to you on that when I’ve found a way to successfully describe the colour red to a blind person.
But don’t hold your breath.
If convicted of murder, he gets life in prison with no parole. If we wish to inflict revenge, put a life size poster of Dick Cheney in the nude on each of his cell walls.
Actually, in most cases, the Geneva convention wouldn’t apply to terrorists, except if they happen to be caught while fighting in a war or by an occupation power.
The article 5 of the UDHR would be more relevant, in most cases.
Apart from that, a number of posts in this thread are so full of crap that it would be pointless to debate their utter stupidity.
You are of course right. The stupidity in the thread is apparently contagious, and I was conflating the two. My fault.
Daniel
Life imprisonment.
Gorbachev was in charge after the Soviets left Afghanistan. Consider one tiny bit of your ignorance eradicated. 
Electromagnetic radiation of wavelength between 625-740 nm which, when incident on cone cells in the retina transmit a signal, via the optic nerve, chiasm and tract to the lateral geniculate nucleus and on to the visual cortex which compares the sensory input with past memory in order to recognise ‘red’. One of these elements doesn’t work in your case, so you can’t see.
What is a soul?
SentientMeat, I want to have your baby.
I’ll bring it round later, PG.
Although there’s not much left after DocCathode’s visit.
If he wasn’t such a PITA, I’d agree.
Actually, you’re wrong. The Geneva protections apply to all human beings. The only question is whether they would be treated as POWs or as civilians.
Despite the claims of the White House, there is no special exclusion for “terrorists” (a legally meaningless term) or for “unlawful combatants” (defined by the White House as anyone we attack who isn’t wearing a uniform).
There is no loophole in the GC or in international law which allows for torture. None.