A Sad Day

A new global survey reveals that Americans are now among the most supportive of torture in the world. A quote from the study:

In five countries either modest majorities or pluralities support a ban on all torture: Azerbaijan (54%), Egypt (54%), the United States (53%), Russia (49%), and Iran (43%).

You're reading that correctly. Our peers when it comes to torture include Iran and Egypt, two countries that routinely torture prisoners, and Russia, a country that, if you judge by the rhetoric of the GOP, is something like the most vile superpower in the world. Even more disturbing than the fact that only 53% of American oppose torture in all circumstances compared to 66% of Chinese -- seriously, China (!) -- is that 13% of Americans think torture should be allowed generally, a number topped only by China, Turkey and Nigeria.

In the last two years American support for torture of suspected terrorists has increased from 36% to 44%. Increased support for torturing suspected terrorists has increased in only five other countries -- India, Nigeria, Turkey, South Korea, and Egypt. In all other developed countries, support for an absolute ban on torture has risen during the same period.

This is the legacy of a president and vice president who mock the Geneva Conventions. We are leaders in the movement to reintroduce torture as an acceptable means of interrogation.

What I would like to see is a study of how more likely a prisoner is to be tortured (or how more severely tortured) when the captors know that, had the tables been turned, they'd be subjected to torture. My hunch is that American POWs are less safe now thanks to the Bush regime. Support our troops my ass.

(h/t: Sullivan)

Monday, September 15, 2008