Movie-Plot-Threat Presidential Debate Questions
Gentlemen, here’s the scenario: As you are flying home from Moscow—having told the world you will never deal with terrorists—hijackers, posing as reporters, seize Air Force One. They vow to kill a hostage every half-hour, including your wife and daughter, until you release a murderous Russian general. I’ll start with Senator Obama. Do you negotiate with the hijackers in the hope of saving lives, or do you flee into the bowels of the craft, then pick them off, one by one, with makeshift shanks and your bare hands?
Candidates, pay attention: An international financier has smuggled an atom bomb into Fort Knox. He loves only gold. Only gold. After an amazing sequence of events, including car chases, sexual conquests, and your defeat of the assassin known as Oddjob, you find yourself staring at the interior of a nuclear device. The final seconds are ticking down. This goes to you, Senator Clinton: Do you cut the blue wire, or do you cut the red wire?
A tornado has transported you to a magical land, where a jubilant throng of midgets greets you as liberator. They direct you toward a road paved with yellow bricks. We’ll start with you, Mayor Giuliani. Would you consider capturing one of these exotic creatures and subjecting him or her to enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding and electric shock, if it means extracting vital information that will determine whether the yellow route leads home—or into a trap?
More questions in the article.
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Andrew • July 30, 2007 3:35 PM
Presidents do have to make hard decisions. However, lives are expendable in such scenarios. Brave men and women would line up by the dozens to die to prevent another terrorist attack like that on 11 September. Only cowards would line up to torture and maim.
I suggest a simple rule. Any public officer or employee who uses torture on behalf of the United States, presumably to save many lives as in the scenario above, is thereafter removed from all government employment and eligibility for public office on the basis of total medical (moral) disability. They gave their honor for their country, where most ethical people would prefer to give something less painful like their legs or their eyesight.
Alternately, the torturer can face the criminal charges arising from their conduct and defend themselves in open court — taking the jail time if they are found guilty by a jury of their fellow citizens, against the possibility of a one time exoneration.
Torture should NEVER be legal in the United States of America. It should always be such an extreme, unusual situation that either it goes to court for a full review, or brings a final end to the careers of the parties involved.
If brave men and women can die for their country to prevent atrocity, what is a mere career in public service worth?