Quite Right, Douglas
Douglas Murray makes the obvious point in the Telegraph:
Who cares who killed the Hamas commander?
The Brutal and Simple Truth of War
Victor Davis Hanson, at National Review Online, on the brutal, simple and, for many, unpalatable truth of winning the war on terror:
Insurgencies, of course, are complex operations, but in general even they are not immune from eternal rules of war. Winning hearts and minds is essential; providing security for the populace is crucial; improving the economy is critical to securing the peace. But all that said, we cannot avoid the pesky truth that in war — any sort of war — killing enemy soldiers stops the violence.
Torture? What Torture?
Call me an insensitive reactionary, but this hardly seems to be excessive in terms of interrogating a potential terrorist:
It was reported that at some stage during that further interview process by the United States authorities, BM had been intentionally subjected to continuous sleep deprivation. The effects of the sleep deprivation were carefully observed.
It was reported that combined with the sleep deprivation, threats and inducements were made to him. His fears of being removed from United States custody and ‘disappearing’ were played upon.
It was reported that the stress brought about by these deliberate tactics was increased by him being shackled in his interviews.
Sleep deprivation? Threats? Shackles? Not even any water-boarding.
If our security services were interrogating someone who possibly had information about a planned terrorist attack, I would most certainly hope that they would use these techniques if they found them to be effective.
