quotations about torture
Some may argue that we would be more effective if we sanctioned torture or other expedient methods to obtain information from the enemy. They would be wrong. Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary. Certainly, extreme physical action can make someone "talk;" however, what the individual says may be of questionable value.
DAVID H. PETRAEUS
Official Memo to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen serving in Multi-National Force-Iraq, May 10, 2007
When we engaged in some of these enhanced interrogation techniques -- techniques that I believe, and I think any fair-minded person would believe were torture -- we crossed a line.... That needs to be understood and accepted. We have to as a country take responsibility for that so hopefully we don't do it again in the future.
BARACK OBAMA
press conference, August 1, 2014
Torture is certainly a dark and unsettling subject, but like I mentioned before, I feel a responsibility as a scholar to investigate and think critically about human rights, about gross injustice. In the long term, it's in the self-interest of the United States to reflect, deeply and seriously, on our policies and actions.
ELISABETH WEBER
"The Abomination of Torture", The Independent, May 11, 2017