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A comment on The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Abu Zubaydah. Parent comment

Re:The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Ab... by 7952 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @08:02AM (#11571081)
It is coneviable that circumstances could exist where the use of torture would prevent some greater evil. But the only proper place to make such an argument is in court as a defense against prosecution. The act would still be illegal and should still be illegal. The disgusting thing is trying to pre-approve illegal acts ahead of time and using that as a defence.
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Re:The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Ab... by brlewis on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @10:09AM (#11571973)
Such circumstances exist in three places: movies, TV shows, and fiction books. In non-fiction contexts the victim simply makes an answer up to get the pain to stop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effectiveness_of_torture_for_i...
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Re:The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Ab... by gerbilly on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @09:05AM (#11571473)
> It is coneviable that circumstances could exist where the use of torture would prevent some greater evil.

Sure, but this is just a thought experiment.

In real life, these kind of tactics simply don't work.

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Re:The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Ab... by Natanael_L on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @08:11AM (#11571138)
Problem is that it doesn't even give all that much actionable information in the first place.
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Re:The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Ab... by ramblerman on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @09:03AM (#11571447)
Yes and no. In the case of somebody who has information waterboarding is generally an 'efficient' strategy. i.e. you have the guy you know hid the bomb somewhere in manhattan.

It's just very hard to tell when somebody doesn't know anything. And they will start making up information to make it stop. i.e. 10 guys and you have reason to believe one of them may have hidden a bomb somewhere.

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Re:The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Ab... by hnhg on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @09:44AM (#11571761)
An example of when the information is fabricated: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1...
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Re:The Al-Qaeda Leader Who Wasn’t: The Shameful Ordeal of Ab... by 7952 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @09:40AM (#11571726)
Although that guy has a massive incentive to not tell you anything. They just have to hold out for a few hours.
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