Who do we think we are?
The Evening Standard reports on Saddam Hussein:
Some of the FBI interrogators who had hoped he would crack through techniques which have included sleep deprivation, being subjected to rapid changes of room temperature and being offered rewards for co-operation have lost hope. They have concluded he was so surrounded by sycophants he had no real idea of what was happening in his country.
Does this sound right to you?
After the American Civil War, did we torment Jefferson Davis? Did interrogators try to crack Robert E. Lee? These guys led an armed insurrection to overthrow the government, enslaved millions, led an entire generation of boys to slaughter.
After the end of the Second World War, did the Allies torture Goering and Doenitz? Were Hidekii Tojo and Masaharu Homma ill-treated? Tried, yes. Executed, yes. But tortured?
It seems to me that, if we are making war against barbarism, it's a mistake to act barbarically. America should stand for something. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.