FOR A LIBERTARIAN...:

Compassionate torture an essential life-saving tool (Mirko Bagaric, January 07, 2008, The Australian)

The US Government has announced that it is mounting a criminal investigation into the destruction of videotapes that depict the CIA allegedly torturing al-Qa'ida suspects.

No doubt this will lead to more fanatical claims by libertarian groups regarding the inappropriateness of torture. They are right that torture should never be used as a vehicle for punishment and domination. But different considerations follow when it is used for compassionate reasons: to save lives.

Paradoxically, people who propose an absolute ban on torture aren't sufficiently repulsed by torture and are too willing to accept the murder of innocent people: either they lack compassion or have a warped moral compass.

...the compass always points to oneself, so compassion for others would violate your ideology.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 6, 2008 10:09 AM