Where Do We Draw The Line?

Is it legal for the CIA to kill a prisoner?

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/051114fa_fact
There's a very interesting, yet troubling article in The New Yorker that looks into the apparent homicide of a detainee at Abu Ghraib.

Two years ago, at Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad, an Iraqi prisoner in Swanner’s custody, Manadel al-Jamadi, died during an interrogation. His head had been covered with a plastic bag, and he was shackled in a crucifixion-like pose that inhibited his ability to breathe; according to forensic pathologists who have examined the case, he asphyxiated. In a subsequent internal investigation, United States government authorities classified Jamadi’s death as a "homicide," meaning that it resulted from unnatural causes.

I'm not opposed to taking extreme measures to get information that will save lives, but in the year 2005 shouldn't we have better, cleaner, less barbaric ways of doing this than putting plastic bags over people's heads?

The CIA press office recently released a document stating "All approved interrogation techniques, both past and present, are lawful and do not constitute torture..."

If this isn't torture, what is?

It's sad that we live in such a "gray" world now. There truly is no black and white these days.
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Reply #1 Top
I also just read the story about the President's speech today in Panama, where he also stated "We do not torture."Link

I seriously would like to know what they actually do consider torture.
Reply #2 Top
I also just read the story about the President's speech today in Panama, where he also stated "We do not torture


compared to what went on in the panama we once armed and instructed (like under torrijos and then noriega--who happens to be eligible for parole next year btw), it's probably not considered torture to occasionally pin someone's arms behind his back and suspend him by his wrists til he sustains sufficient internal damage that blood gushes outta his mouth and he dies when released.

on the other hand, any panamanians who were around during the seige of the vatican residence prolly havent yet forgotten the torture their ears hadda endure til noriega gave himself up.