Tim’s Torture Matrix
President Obama’s executive order calling for the closing of Gitmo has given elements of our political class opportunity to let the world know how much they dislike violence, particularly torture. I say good for them. Violence is bad. So is torture.
In fact I think all sorts of things are terrible. Incarceration is horrible. Handcuffs are horrible. Getting shot is horrible. Nevertheless, under certain circumstances, these horrible things are less horrible than the alternative.
Searching a car is normally unacceptable unless you have probable cause and a warrant. Blowing up a building is normally unacceptable, unless it is reasonably believed to be full of enemy combatants. Shooting a man is normally unacceptable, unless that man is pointing a gun at you.
Following this logic then, there would be a set of circumstances where digging into a human being with a number two pencil might be acceptable if you reasonably believed there was a ticking atom bomb and the dude knew where it was hidden. Continue Reading
