HalfPowered wrote:

redc1c4 added these comments in the current discussion du jour
...

There was at least honor in the way the Germans generally
fought the war, but especially the Luftwaffe, who had the
utmost respect for our Army Air Corps/Force guys, even though
they were "blood" enemies. Likewise, the Americans and Brits
were considerate of even the bomber crews bombing London and
other targets more of a military nature. Completely the
opposite was true in the Pacific with the Japs, and today,
there is NO honor to warfare whatsoever. Worse, the basic
premises behind armed conflict between sovereign nations has
been gone for almost 2 decades since the fall of the USSR and
now our brave men and women get blown up, literally, by real
or would-be terrorists. Pretty hard to target these folks,
and we must be ever vigilent with the "POWs" we capture.
Which in turn leads us to the logical conclusion that the War
on Terror coalition simply MUST stop the very near torture of
captured men and women, no matter what "intelligence" may be
gleaned. While not endorsing ANY political candidates,
perhaps John McCain has said it best: if we torture prisoners
for ANY reason, we shouldn't expect human treatment when our
armed forces personnel are captured, certainly not the kind
of treatment Franz gave to Charlie Brown.

like our prisoners received in Korea, Viet Nam, GW 1, and in
Iraq?

redc1c4,
just curious.....

First, let me make this clear: We, the United States, nor our
allies, should NEVER use torture in ANY form, period. Just
because our POWs were tortured by the North Koreans and Vietnames
is NOT a justification for us to do so. Further, we should NOT
fall to the level of our enemies. We hold ourselves up as a moral
and legal standard for the entire world, as well as the most
potent super power left today. That requires that we maintain
both an international law presence/compliance and that of our own
law, including civil law for contractors and the UCMJ. We may use
some forms of intense interrogation but when it is abundantl
clear to everyone witnesses it that what we are doing is nothing
more than a euphemism for stopping just short of intentional
infliction of real pain. If that description doesn't fit with
your view of our role as both the leader of freedome and
democracy in the world today as well as our role as policeman of
the world, perhaps you should examine your motives. Intelligence
experts also tell us point blank that except on VERY rare
occasioons, intelligence gathered under torture or even near or
ersatz torture is generally always useless as the prisoner will
do what any human in pain will do - say whatever the interrogator
wants for even a brief respite.

Bottom line is this: if we do not want our brave men and women
mistreated, mentally or physically tortured, excessively
agressive interrogation treatments employed, wounded or
intentionally maimed, or even executed in brutally painful ways,
that WE must NEVER restort to the tactics of our enemies. We are
better than that and must show it 100% of the time to both our
enemies and our friends, and we must NEVER mistreat any prisoner.

--
HP, aka Jerry

that's where you're wrong: since it is a given that our people will be tortured
&
killed, we need to make it a national policy that the government officials, and
all who participate in said acts will be targeted and killed ruthlessly,
by whatever means necessary.

redc1c4,
anything else is foolishness.
--
"Enlisted men are stupid, but extremely cunning and sly, and bear
considerable watching."

Army Officer's Guide