Okay, maybe my rose-colored glasses are on, but I can’t imagine US military ever subjecting anyone to torture for information.
We were watching 24, the previews, where it looks like They’re getting ready to electrocute Roger and I pooh-poohed the idea to Ivylad.
Ivylad was in the Navy.
He wouldn’t tell me anything, but hinted quite strongly that the US military has used torture.
What do you think?
Depends on what you mean by torture.
Which of the following are not torture? Locking somebody in a room without food? Holding somebody’s hand over a candle flame? Sleep deprivation? Bizarre games where a prisoner is made to believe that he has to cooperate, or else his comrade will be burned alive in the next room?
I don’t think the military uses thumbscrews, and I believe (hope) our boys stick to the Geneva convention. I wouldn’t doubt, though, that they use some interrogation techniques that Amnesty International wouldn’t exactly love.
What did ivylad do in the Navy? I’m in the Navy, and I have no idea where he’s coming from. Maybe we have used torture, but we don’t now, and I can tell you there’s no policy for it and no tolerance for it in the high levels of the services.
He was a submariner.
I’ve never seen 24 but isn’t there a nuclear bomb set to go off in LA or something? I wouldn’t be surprised if the US military used torture to get that information from someone they knew had it.
Since when are submariners experts on interrogation techniques? Isn’t that kinda like asking an IT guy if the accountants at his company secretly cook the books?
I was a submariner. Unless he’s got some strange background in service, he’s yankin’ ya. He wouldn’t even have access to the kinds of situations where you might hear such things, unless, just maybe he had a SEAL Det on his boat at one point or another, in which case… maybe. But I doubt it. The SEALS don’t discuss those sorts of things, I’m sure. They might, however, have a bit of fun feeding some credulous sailor a cock-n-bull story.
There are much better ways to extract info in a timely manner, and a body under torture will tell you anything to stop the torture. Even if it’s a complete fabrication.
Chemical interrogation, however, works. And it doesn’t leave a crippled person behind.
Disclaimer: I have no direct or indirect knowledge of any US armed forces personnel actually conducting chemical interrogation.
I heard that high-carbohydrate diets make people more susceptible to interrogation- guess it makes them sluggish or lethargic. Brings up some funny scenarios.
Interrogator: Still won’t talk, eh? Bring in another bowl of linguine!
PRisoner: No, really, I can’t eat another bite…
Interrogator: Full, eh? BRING ON THE COMFY PILLOWS!
[ul]
[sup]Being a submariner is torture.[/sup][/ul]
Reminds me of that quote from Ronin…
Vincent: How did they finally get to you?
Sam: They gave me a grasshopper.
Spence: What’s that?
Sam: Lessee, two parts gin, one part brandy, one part Creme de Menthe…
There is no real use for physical torture. The person will tell you anything, they will contradict themselves, you can’t believe a word they say. They may not even know what you want to find out.