Just this past week it was revealed that our Minister of What-If-Something-Goes-Wrong, the honourable Mr. Toews (“the honourable” goes with the office and not necessarily the man) gave approval to the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service to use intelligence gathered by torture. Theoretically it was only to be used if Canadian lives were at stake. This honourable minister of the crown had assured Canadians that torture would not be condoned and that intelligence gathered by torture is considered “tainted”. And so it was assumed by most Canadians that torture was not our policy…ever. But it turns out that the honourable gentleman provided his approval more than two years ago while claiming that it wasn’t so. After all, he is the mInister of What-if -Something-goes-Wrong.
When I was a child of the male flavour I was arrested by my mother on several occasions for “torturing” my sisters. I was probably guilty…but since then whenever the topic or opportunity came up…I have been generally opposed. It’s not that I don’t think it works. I’m sure that it does. And it isn’t that I’m particularly moral about it. I’m opposed because I’ve always believed that people have missed the point about torture. Torture is not a means of extracting information. It’s a means of inflicting hideous terror upon helpless people in order to convince their friends and relatives that having any knowledge in their heads that the powerful deem to be dangerous…will result in painful oblivion. It is a means of telling people that they can’t know “bad” things and furthermore “don’t even think about it”. Torture is about exercising power over one’s enemies. Any information gleaned is secondary and probably unreliable. I suppose that I should be morally outraged about this business. But being morally opposed seems to me, too narrow. Torturers are rapists and murderers and an astonishing number of them wash their hands and faces…change their clothes and go home every night to a mundane life with wife and family who have no idea and who wouldn’t believe that they live with a vampire. So what of our honourable minister of What-if-Something-Goes-Wrong? His rationalization is beneath contempt. That he’s a politician shouldn’t mean that he is ridiculous and morally reprehensible. If he happens to be it’s probably because he always was. But he’s not alone. The angry frustration of millions makes them want to exercise some terror and power over the insidious and almost invisible bombers and snipers and demons on the other side…whatever side that is. So some of the most ordinary citizens who live next door and down the street listen to the honourable Minister and think…”Well if somebody is thinking about doing something bad to us…we ought to find out about that shit before it’s too late…and if that means torture…as long as somebody else is doing it…H-M-M-M”. And that’s how we come to tolerate rape, murder, torture,anonymous terror, victimizing the innocent…becoming savages, divesting our humanity. It’s not merely morally wrong. It’s evil.
It is evil, honourable Mr. Toews…Minister of Where-Have-We-Gone-Wrong.
Feb 11 2112
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