I think I will let Senator McCain speak for himself
http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?f...ontent_id=1611 Quote:
Mr. President, to fight terrorism we need intelligence. That much is obvious. What should also be obvious is that the intelligence we collect must be reliable and acquired humanely, under clear standards understood by all our fighting men and women. To do differently would not only offend our values as Americans, but undermine our war effort, because abuse of prisoners harms – not helps – us in the war on terror. First, subjecting prisoners to abuse leads to bad intelligence, because under torture a detainee will tell his interrogator anything to make the pain stop. Second, mistreatment of our prisoners endangers U.S. troops who might be captured by the enemy – if not in this war, then in the next. And third, prisoner abuses exact on us a terrible toll in the war of ideas, because inevitably these abuses become public. When they do, the cruel actions of a few darken the reputation of our country in the eyes of millions. American values should win against all others in any war of ideas, and we can’t let prisoner abuse tarnish our image...
So the amendment I am offering simply codifies what is current policy and reaffirms what was assumed to be existing law for years. In light of the administration’s stated commitment, it should require no change in our current interrogation and detention practices. What it would do is restore clarity on a simple and fundamental question: Does America treat people inhumanely? My answer is no, and from all I’ve seen, America’s answer has always been no.
Mr. President, let me just close by noting that I hold no brief for the prisoners. I do hold a brief for the reputation of the United States of America. We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be. To do otherwise undermines our security, but it also undermines our greatness as a nation. We are not simply any other country. We stand for something more in the world – a moral mission, one of freedom and democracy and human rights at home and abroad. We are better than these terrorists, and we will we win. The enemy we fight has no respect for human life or human rights. They don’t deserve our sympathy. But this isn’t about who they are. This is about who we are. These are the values that distinguish us from our enemies.
|
Feel free to read the entire text. A few points of my own: Sen. McCain knows better than nearly any other American alive today what it means to be tortured. He also knows the things he said to end the abuse. He has to know from being on the recieving end just how useless the entire practice is.
Terrorists already know they will be detained and treated fairly by the Americans. They think we are weak already, this will not change their opinion. I personally do not care what happens to a man that has raised a gun to our troops, or done anything in another way that lead to the death of An American. But I do care about recieving accurate intelligence to keep our people alive. That intelligence is being derived through conventional methods, this just makes sure it stays that way. Otherwise, you have people saying whatever they think we want to hear just to make it stop. So again, I don't have moral qualms, only questions of accuracy in intelligence.