tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112258799568696095.post6719363398719476595..comments2024-03-06T13:50:29.718+05:30Comments on E's flat, ah's flat too: "Believe me, it's torture"Rahul Siddharthanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04809667965184094636noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112258799568696095.post-12175825268658324012008-07-04T15:07:00.000+05:302008-07-04T15:07:00.000+05:30Rahul S:Thanks for the comment. What I find inter...Rahul S:<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comment. What I find interesting about the article in the link I gave is the arguments. Even if it were not about Dershowitz, it would still be interesting.<BR/><BR/>AnantAnanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974808252913561726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112258799568696095.post-74924765560985207202008-07-04T14:58:00.000+05:302008-07-04T14:58:00.000+05:30Dershowitz has no ethics, not even academic ones. ...Dershowitz has no ethics, not even <A HREF="http://www.counterpunch.org/menetrez02122008.html" REL="nofollow">academic ones</A>. It's disgraceful that Harvard keeps him on their rolls.<BR/><BR/>Back to Hitchens -- <A HREF="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2008/07/i-came-back-fro.html" REL="nofollow">here</A> is a more insightful take on his current escapade and where it falls short.Rahul Siddharthanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04809667965184094636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112258799568696095.post-26415993950876028582008-07-04T13:48:00.000+05:302008-07-04T13:48:00.000+05:30Dear Rahuls,You may find this link interesting....Dear Rahuls,<BR/><BR/>You may find this <A HREF="http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney06092004.html" REL="nofollow"> link</A> interesting.<BR/><BR/>AnantAnanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974808252913561726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112258799568696095.post-42947138007607033672008-07-03T17:40:00.000+05:302008-07-03T17:40:00.000+05:30Rahul - while he doesn't use the phrase "I condemn...Rahul - while he doesn't use the phrase "I condemn torture" I don't see any other way of reading his article. He doesn't say it will be useful for a confession -- quite the opposite: it will always elicit some sort of "confession", and you have no way of telling how reliable it is. <BR/><BR/>He also approvingly quotes Malcolm Nance, who rebuts the pro-torture points. In particular, "Torture advocates hide behind the argument that an open discussion about specific American interrogation techniques will aid the enemy. Yet, convicted Al Qaeda members and innocent captives who were released to their host nations have already debriefed the world through hundreds of interviews, movies and documentaries on exactly what methods they were subjected to and how they endured. Our own missteps have created a cadre of highly experienced lecturers for Al Qaeda’s own virtual sere school for terrorists."<BR/><BR/>The best he can say for it is that it is not morally equivalent to the things terrorists do, like chopping off fingers and so on. He argues also that the people he met, who waterboarded him, should not be regarded as morally equivalent to terrorists. I would agree -- it is not morally equivalent. That doesn't mean it is right, and I don't think he anywhere argues that it is.Rahul Siddharthanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04809667965184094636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3112258799568696095.post-56527016113322012272008-07-03T16:59:00.000+05:302008-07-03T16:59:00.000+05:30yes, Rahul , he does clarify that it is indeed tor...yes, Rahul , he does clarify that it is indeed torture but note that he doesn't unequivocally condemn it. In fact he says it would be useful for a confession, but...and this is the only doubt he expresses..what if you got the wrong guy? He would then have some 'sympathy' for him. <BR/><BR/>Christopher Hitchen's move to the right over the Iraq war and, in fact, over the Bush presidency has been one of the most depressing aspects of the shift of Western liberal thought. Mercifully not too many Hitchens's have moved in that direction.Rahul Basuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07751088048215388592noreply@blogger.com