THE INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES used by the Bush administration in the war on terror, says the editorial page of the New York Times, have “dishonored” our history. Have we, the paper asks while wagging its finger, become “a nation that tortures human beings and then concocts legal sophistries to confuse the world”? Even if one does not share the accusatory purposes of the Times, millions of thinking Americans are wondering if the use of torture in our battle with al Qaeda is ever legitimate.
But what exactly is torture? International treaties in force, including the Torture Convention, ban its use. But torture itself remains difficult to define. This was a point driven home in the testimony given in his confirmation hearings by Michael Mukasey, President Bush’s nominee for the position of Attorney General.
