Well put. I can’t disagree with most of what you’ve said, except for a few shades of gray when it comes to definitions. I think this issue is really many smaller issues packaged together, so sometimes it helps to break them apart and take them individually. I see many questions arising in this debate:
– Does torture even work? This is an important question, but it can’t be answered until my next question is:
– What exactly defines ‘torture?’ The UN has tried to define it, but they are vague and don’t refer to specific techniques. Amnesty International has slightly different definitions (here’s a good read from them titled Torture & The Law). Can we possibly expect to ever achieve a perfect list of every possible form of torture (Barry Manilow I’m OK with, but Celine Dione is definitely torture)? Of course not. So this is difficult.
– Once torture is defined, who do the laws regulating torture apply to? Only to Americans? What about foreigners? Are we allowed to torture them because they’re not US Citizens and therefore aren’t availed the right to not be tortured? Or do we follow our supposed American morals to the necessary conclusion that certain rights are bestowed upon all men, regardless of country? What about enemy combatants? Do we subscribe to the ‘eye for an eye’ school of torture or do we try to retain the moral high ground?
– The larger issue that reveals itself is the slowness of the legislature in dealing with today’s urgent threats. It is certainly understandable that certain issues require instant action, but once you go down that road, what’s the point of even having the legislative process at all then? If all it takes is a national security scare to ram through some new legislation because “we don’t have time,” where are the checks and balances? My guess is that some sort of retro-active approval process similar to what FISA had. It should also probably be a temporary power that is pending further review. But then it begs the question you raised earlier about being retroactively charged with a crime!
So it seems like the torture issue is stuck in an infinite loop. These are all difficult questions, and there are no easy answers.
