Water boarding is a just method of gaining information from terrorists

CONTENTION 1: FRAMEWORK A. ‘Just' is the term to be proven/disproven. -The resolution asks us what is ‘just'. It is therefore urgent to define just, which is defined (from . http://dictionary.reference.com......) as, "guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness"… It is therefore necessary for the burden of proof to lie within the pro side as meeting these four criteria. Failure to do so, fails to prove that this action in question is just, and therefore would require a con vote. B. Waterboarding defined. Spencer Ackerman explains what a former Navy Seal Instructor explained as what waterboarding is (. http://www.democraticunderground.com...) - "Waterboarding is a controlled drowning. .. It does not simulate drowning, as the lungs are actually filling with water. There is no way to simulate that. The victim is drowning. How much the victim is to drown depends on the desired result (in the form of answers to questions shouted into the victim's face) and the obstinacy of the subject. A team doctor watches the quantity of water that is ingested and for the physiological signs which show when the drowning effect goes from painful psychological experience, to horrific suffocating punishment to the final death spiral. Waterboarding is slow motion suffocation with enough time to contemplate the inevitability of black out and expiration –usually the person goes into hysterics on the board. For the uninitiated, it is horrifying to watch and if it goes wrong, it can lead straight to terminal hypoxia. When done right it is controlled death. Its lack of physical scarring allows the victim to recover and be threaten with its use again and again. " -The former Navy Seal Instructor essentially concludes with this, "Waterboarding is a torture technique. Period. There is no way to gloss over it or sugarcoat it. " *My opponent must therefore prove that this torturous act is guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness in order to get information out of the ‘terrorist. ' CONTENTION 2: WATERBOARDING, IS NOT TRUTHFUL A. Water boarding fails the Geneva Convention. -We, the United States, has signed onto the Geneva Convention that very specifically states that we, as the United States, can NOT waterboard because it is considered a form of torture. Failing this truth that it IS torturous and failing the truth that we promised to keep simply means it is NOT just. B. Water boarding gets inaccurate information. -When people are put under such sadistic conditions, investigation after investigation reveals the exact same results. NO valuable information is ever forfeited from these ‘terrorists'. Christopher Hitchens underwent the procedure known as water boarding, he concluded several things including A) It is drowning, B) It is torture, C) It provides no valuable information. (. http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com...) If my opponent wants to provide evidence for the opposite, I will gladly provide more investigative evidence from several sources (including MSNBC of January 2009: NO VALUABLE INFORMATION FROM "several sources") C. Although some terrorists undergo the technique, there is no way of telling who actually is a terrorist. -Yes, the resolution asks us about the treatment of terrorists, but in the flimsy military tribunals, there is no real telling who actually is a terrorist. Take Murat Kurnaz for example (CNN 60 Minutes), he was found ‘red-handed' in the act of being a white man on a bus and was immediately labeled as a terrorist. He was waterboarded for information he didn't have and he essentially wasted 5 years of his life. Now, in our system he is was a ‘terrorist', but that doesn't mean he actually was. Justifying torture for the real terrorists MUST ALSO justify it knowing that we will mess up. .. A LOT. In fact, CBS of 2009 said that out of the hundreds of ‘terrorists' at Guantanamo Bay, only 3 were ever found guilty. These Military Tribunals were meant to convict ‘terrorists' quickly and accurately, and as CBS described, we failed both. CONTENTION 3: WATERBOARDING HAS NO REASONING. -Waterboarding is meant to prevent the actions of terrorist activities. Unfortunately, it provokes them. Men that have gone through our prison system and feared their lives on a daily basis often explained that they were not terrorists going in, but they were terrorist leaving. They basically said if this is the way they want to treat me, then I am ready to fight. This just goes to show, which war are we fighting? Because currently, it is one where wrong men are suspected, and wrong men are tortured. -. http://www.mcclatchydc.com... CONTENTION 4: WATERBOARDING FAILS JUSTICE (defined as giving each their ‘due') A. No trial equals no conviction -We do not need to convict someone to label them a terrorist. This is an essential key to justice, yet we fail to give them a fair trial (failing justice). B. NO ONE is due torture. -Are we not fighting people (terrorists) because their acts are wrong? (yes). .. Then WHY do we sink to their sadistic level, but moreover, why would we EVER call it ‘just'? We are lowering our standards to the exact thing we are fighting. Terrorist is defined (from . http://dictionary.reference.com...) as "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce". .. From this definition you can see that WE HAVE BECOME THE VERY THING WE ARE FIGHTING. CONTENTION 5: WATERBOARDING FAILS FAIRNESS. A. It is not fair to the wrongly convicted. B. It is not fair to the citizens at home. 1. We create MORE terrorists. 2. Our Internatinoal Relations are DESTROYED. In the end, an eye for an eye makes the world go blind and that is what we are doing. It is not JUST. Steam Rolled.