Is Waterboarding Torture?

The first question we should be asking is "Should we allow torture at all?" And the answer, I insist, is no.

The follow-on question "Is torture effective?", given the answer to the first question, is irrelevant. Effective or not torture is immoral and dehumanizing both for the victim and the torturer. You shall not do evil that good may come of it. Without this fundamental truth moral reasoning loses it's coherency. So I disagree with the author of the article cited below to that degree.

A legitimate question might be "Is waterboarding torture?" Prior to 2001 (and the torture-works-ticking-clock rationale) the answer was clearly yes:

Is Waterboarding Torture?:

I agree with you, Matt, that there are several questions surrounding this issue that, while disturbing, are disputable. “Should we allow torture?” and “Is torture effective?” are two examples. But the question of whether waterboarding is torture is not one of them.

Read the whole thing.

(Via First Thoughts.)