Quote Originally Posted by LittleGrizzly View Post
people like the rest of you guys that get your knickers in a twist over a little waterboarding are precisely the reason why i have no objection to beardy fellows with cemtex and flight plans getting a little rough treatment when caught.

TBH i read this one of two ways...

I support rough treatment (like waterboarding) because people get upset about it... which doesn't make to much sense unless your someone who argues for the sake of winding other people up...

or

I support rough treatment (stuff worse than waterboarding) because people get upset about waterboarding... can take this one of two ways... either your a really big wind up merchant... or you support harsher torture because everyone else supports none at all.. thus to make up for everyone else's moderation you make yourself far more extreme...

I think you were right that it would be terrible to live in a society that approves of torture, guess i should just be more thankful other britons put more thought into the subject...
Government will ALWAYS have to do nasty things, and given the nature of Gov't they will do nasty things to the general populace unless the general populace consistently reacts with horror and revulsion when such activity occurs.

Therefore:
I agree with the UK's interventionist foreign policy and therefore recognise that the UK will accumulate many state & non-state enemies.
I support the secret use of effective interrogation techniques against enemies of the state, even if they are distasteful to me.
I recognise that many of the brutal torture techniques provide zero certainty for interrogation purposes, and are thus ineffective.
I realise that the general public will find it very difficult to distinguish between effective/distasteful & ineffective/brutal interrogation methods.
I accept that the general public do not always make rational choices about the public good which is why we elect governments to make those tough choices.
I encourage public uproar about distasteful & brutal interrogation techniques as the most effective ward against the incipient totalitarian state.

Is that clearer?