Quote Originally Posted by Tribesman View Post
Exactly Panzer , which means that your approval of torture and summary executions applies to everyone anywhere in the world at any time
Where in the world did you come up with that? Allow me to correct the record.

Exactly Panzer , which means that your approval of torture and summary executions applies to known terrorists anywhere in the world at any time


Errrrrrr...a government must act within the law no matter what and be held fully accountble for breaking the law .
I will take your avoidance of the secrecy issue, and move to a legal footing where you believe you have more room to maneuver, as a ceded point.

Democratic governments have been forced to change, avoid, and even break laws during wartime. Lincoln suspended Habeus Corpus, FDR detained hundreds of thousands of American citizens, and I will get into some of the nasty habits the British engaged in during WW2 in a moment.

Trying to fit the death and destruction brought about during wartime into a legal framework has always been difficult, and is contrary to the very nature of armed conflict. Add to that the fact that international war treaties were designed for nation versus nation engagements, and you can see how trying to apply those laws to terrorists may not be the best approach.


The views you and Dave espoused are so contemptable they cannot be afforded any degree of respect whatsoever .
Quite the contrary, sir. I believe torture as a tool should be kept on the table for only the most high level and/or high value detainees. This should always be done in proxy countries and much more effort should be taken to keep it secret.

I also believe that the ROEs should be loosened and more mid to low level terrorists should be eliminated instead of detained. Trying to conduct trials for these people would be counterproductive as finding witnesses, evidence, etc in a war zone is next to impossible. The British knew this during WW2, and thus undertook a broad assassination campaign of known SS and committed nazis directly after the war. I think that if asked, most Westerners would support their government taking every step possible to hunt down and neutralize terrorist threats.

As for those lower level people that are detained, or their status is not certain, they should not be tortured. I creates an enormous image problem and there is a possibility of torturing innocent people