Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Roger Cohen writes, “Now we all know what ‘interrogation with enhanced techniques’ means: an insect in a human cage.”

I would think that if we could extract life-saving information from a terrorist by placing him in a cage with insects, then it would be amoral and criminal not to do so.

Should the terrorist’s mental discomfort be more of a concern than the possibility of saving innocent lives? I hope that those who think so never have responsibility in matters of national security, but rather confine their moral posturing to the ivory tower.

Ari Weitzner
New York, April 23, 2009

Note from KBJ: Well put. Not only is it not always wrong to torture; it is sometimes wrong not to torture. I'm getting a kick out of those (such as law professor Jeremy Waldron) who believe that there should be an absolute ban on torture. Fiat justitia, ruat cœlum! (Let right be done, though the heavens should fall!) Who knew there were so many absolutists in academia, the media, and the arts? So much for nuance!