Jerry Monaco wrote:
>
> On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 10:19 AM, Chris Doss <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > The effectiveness or lack thereof of torture is an
> > emprical question. Is there data?
>
> Hundreds of years of torture of those accused of being witches and their
> subsequent confessions.
>
> Torture was obviously extremely effective. The inquisitor usually got their
> witch. Proof positive that witches exist no doubt.
>
> The various torture churches actually kept pretty good records on this kind
> of stuff.
This debate partly misses the point -- which is not (primarily and in most cases) collection of information but rather terrorizing the population from which the victims come. The torturers usually know that the intelligence gasthered is miniscule and untrustworthy. But they also know that the constant threat of torture can be extremely demoralizing.
I continue to be amazed by the inability or unwillingness of so many on this list to acknow3ledge that the u.s. is a criminal state.*
Carrol
P.S. I am of course equally amazed by the inability of some (e.g. D. Redmond) to recognize that the European Union, Japan, Australia etc are _also_ criminal states, and that given power equal to the U.S. would of course equal it in savagery.