Brig. Gen. David Irvine: What Jack Bauer Has Not Done
| What Jack Bauer Has Not Done by: Brig. Gen. David Irvine Thu Jan 22, 2009 at 10:51:53 AM EST (This is a guest post from Brigadier General David R. Irvine, a retired Army Reserve strategic intelligence officer who taught prisoner interrogation and military law for 18 years with the Sixth Army Intelligence School. He currently practices law in Salt Lake City, Utah. - promoted by Brandon Friedman) We are supposed to feel bad for Jack Bauer, the lead character on FOX's hit show "24." Only he and a handful of his colleagues, it seems, have the moral strength necessary to do what has to be done. While Senators whine and his superiors wring their hands about what is "right," Bauer acts and saves the nation. What this means -- and has meant for more than six seasons of "24" -- is that Bauer is a not-so reluctant torturer. He beats up the bad guys because, as he has said so many times, "there is no other way." The reality is that there are more reliable and effective ways. Resorting to torture isn't heroic, it's stupid. Reliance on it has resulted in strategic mistakes and has made the nation less safe. The torture chorus has yet to document a single instance of a "but for" success, and that refusal looks more and more like a criminal cover-up.I taught interrogation and the law of war for 18 years to U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine interrogators. The truth is that torture is just as likely to lead to false information or no information, not solid intelligence. History is replete with victims who have refused to talk or lied or died under torture. American torture has killed or addled suspects who might have provided vital intelligence if interrogated humanely. One problem with TV fiction is that viewers assume that if Jack Bauer can break some fingers and crack the case in an hour, anyone could. more... http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2396 |
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