Comments on: The Moral Deficiency of Charles Krauthammer http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/05/15/the-moral-deficiency-of-charles-krauthammer/ The national media watch group Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:56:06 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: youngcynic http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/05/15/the-moral-deficiency-of-charles-krauthammer/comment-page-1/#comment-4011 youngcynic Sun, 17 May 2009 21:12:34 +0000 http://www.fair.org/blog/?p=8960#comment-4011 not to be totally clueless here but do the human rights of the Palestinians include not having 200 terrorists sent back to live with them? not to be totally clueless here but do the human rights of the Palestinians include not having 200 terrorists sent back to live with them?

]]> By: Doug Latimer http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/05/15/the-moral-deficiency-of-charles-krauthammer/comment-page-1/#comment-4005 Doug Latimer Sat, 16 May 2009 16:43:13 +0000 http://www.fair.org/blog/?p=8960#comment-4005 So, Hamas "kidnapped" an Israeli soldier, but the Israelis "captured" a Hamas member? Interesting distinction, don't you think? To the main point: Who has the "right" to defuse "a ticking time bomb"? Does any government or opposition group have the moral right to engage in torture to that end, regardless of their record of brutality? What if the Jewish resistance had "kidnapped" a Nazi soldier, and the Nazis tortured a resistance member to save him? Aren't the Israelis brutal in their treatment of the Palestinians? Is there a difference? Aren't the Americans brutal in their treatment of the citizens of the countries they occupy? Is there a difference? As I've said before, faced with the choice of torturing someone to save an innocent person ... if that were the only possible way to do so ... I'd despise being in that position, but if I could bring myself to do it, I would. What if it was your mother? But can that be extrapolated to the real world? You tell me. So, Hamas "kidnapped" an Israeli soldier, but the Israelis "captured" a Hamas member?

Interesting distinction, don't you think?

To the main point: Who has the "right" to defuse "a ticking time bomb"? Does any government or opposition group have the moral right to engage in torture to that end, regardless of their record of brutality?

What if the Jewish resistance had "kidnapped" a Nazi soldier, and the Nazis tortured a resistance member to save him?

Aren't the Israelis brutal in their treatment of the Palestinians? Is there a difference?

Aren't the Americans brutal in their treatment of the citizens of the countries they occupy? Is there a difference?

As I've said before, faced with the choice of torturing someone to save an innocent person … if that were the only possible way to do so … I'd despise being in that position, but if I could bring myself to do it, I would.

What if it was your mother?

But can that be extrapolated to the real world?

You tell me.

]]> By: Just_the_facts http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/05/15/the-moral-deficiency-of-charles-krauthammer/comment-page-1/#comment-3995 Just_the_facts Sat, 16 May 2009 04:11:02 +0000 http://www.fair.org/blog/?p=8960#comment-3995 I may be wrongly interpreting your writing as dismissing the "ticking timebomb" argument because the prisoner release wasn't time-sensitive. If so, I don't know if this changes your perspective: I think the "ticking time bomb" Krauthammer refers to was Hamas's threat -- conveyed in a video of captive Waxman -- to very quickly murder him if Israel did not agree to the demand to release 200 Hamas prisoners. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wosold024804627jul02,0,1051004.story. With the information it obtained through torture, Israel mounted a rescue operation 30 minutes before the murder deadline http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-15/news/mn-50378_1. It appears the torture wasn't so terrible as to be fatal. The "unrepentant" driver was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1996 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/3783/islamic-militant-gets-30-years-in-waxman-killing/. I may be wrongly interpreting your writing as dismissing the "ticking timebomb" argument because the prisoner release wasn't time-sensitive. If so, I don't know if this changes your perspective: I think the "ticking time bomb" Krauthammer refers to was Hamas's threat — conveyed in a video of captive Waxman — to very quickly murder him if Israel did not agree to the demand to release 200 Hamas prisoners. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wosold024804627jul02,0,1051004.story.

With the information it obtained through torture, Israel mounted a rescue operation 30 minutes before the murder deadline http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-15/news/mn-50378_1.

It appears the torture wasn't so terrible as to be fatal. The "unrepentant" driver was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1996 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/3783/islamic-militant-gets-30-years-in-waxman-killing/.

]]> By: leftionthenews http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/05/15/the-moral-deficiency-of-charles-krauthammer/comment-page-1/#comment-3988 leftionthenews Fri, 15 May 2009 21:50:06 +0000 http://www.fair.org/blog/?p=8960#comment-3988 Is there an original source for the claims made by Krauthammer? I can't find one. What happened to the driver, for example? Did the Israelis end up killing him during the "interrogation," as the U.S. did with 100 or so of its captured torturees? Is there an original source for the claims made by Krauthammer? I can't find one. What happened to the driver, for example? Did the Israelis end up killing him during the "interrogation," as the U.S. did with 100 or so of its captured torturees?

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