Torture is not okay ... unless ...

The debate about torture, and in particular whether tactics such as water boarding constitute torture, seems to have taken a new tack. I am hearing Presidential candidates say things like "Torture is wrong, however, if American lives are at stake ... then I will use whatever means necessary ..."

Torture is not okay. Ever.

Let me lay down a scenario. Let's say that the US receives credible intelligence that a nuclear bomb is going to be set off in a major US city. Millions of lives are at stake. The US apprehends a citizen, or citizens it believes to be involved. Their intelligence tells them that these people know the where, when, how, and who of this attack. These individuals are questioned. They don't provide any information. They are then handed over to operatives that "torture" them, in order to get the information.

Okay. So we have an imminent deadly terrorist attack on the US. Millions of American lives are at stake. We have people that know where and when and who. They don't want to cooperate. They aren't telling us what we need to know. We torture them to get what we need. We use whatever means necessary to save lives.

Now, using this scenario, perhaps the individuals are involved, and perhaps they give information and the attacks are prevented, however, consider this. What if these people really aren't involved? What if the attacks never happen? What if the intelligence was not quite accurate and these people are innocent? Is it okay to torture innocent human beings because we think they might be able to tell us something to prevent the deaths of American lives? How would you like to be that innocent person?

There is a reason we have a judicial system in this country. There is a reason the Geneva Conventions are in place. In the United States, we operate from the assumption that everyone is innocent, until proven guilty. We can not abandon this principle just because we are afraid. In fact, it is times such as this that we must elevate it, we must exalt it and show everyone that we hold the rule of law above all else.