2005-01-08 - 3:37 p.m.
On Torture, Interrogation, and Slitting Throats
At 8:34 PM in the comments over at wretchard's I made the following assertion: "There are certain things that civilized people don’t do, among them: slitting throats, engaging in rape or sexual abuse, targeting innocent civilians…" Now, I would like to reconsider my statement, having subsequently come upon this quote by the inestimable H.L. Mencken: Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the flag, and begin slitting throats.
I think I understand where Mencken is coming from. I think we've all felt that temptation to 'just do what needs to be done' and damn the consequences. And I'm not saying it's necessarily a wrong impulse. I just think we need to consider that there are indeed consequences to everything we do.
Of course, there are consequences to not doing as well and that is, after all, the point of wretchard's post. In wartime I understand that it is sometimes necessary to do that which we in other times would find abhorent. A soldier (or anyone) might well need to slit someone's throat in order to preserve the lives of others. And if that is an action necesssary to preserving the greater good, then so be it. I understand. No lecture necessary.
What bothers me, though, is the tone of Mencken's quotation. There is an appeal to righteous anger, the idea that if one only becomes indignant enough then all bets are off. You just spit on your hands, hoist the flag, and start slitting throats.
Well, okay. Perhaps. But it had better be for a damn good cause done against some damn bad people otherwise I'd venture somewhere down the line that course of action is going to come back to bite whomever employs it.
Again, I'm not saying it's necessarily the wrong course to take. We just should be prepared to defend it somewhere down the road because, sure as shootin', we'll need to.
