Is our need to know, compromising our need for safety? Just wondering.

[mfcorey1]

[daleanime]

1. Obviously, if we knew...

they would have to kill us.





And because someone will need it.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

2. That is an age old question.

Right up there with "Which came first?"

One thing that one must think about is that WE are the bosses of this country. WE must know what is going on to make informed decisions to run it.

Being a Boss is not always safe, but that is what we are, the bosses. And not knowing what is going on can cause us to lose our ability to run this country at the ballot box, polls, protest, even just speaking out at the local coffee shop.

[Iggo]

3. Does secret torture make you safe?

[spanone]

4. no. we need to be BETTER than our enemies. otherwise, we're just another enemy.

Last edited Mon Dec 8, 2014, 02:37 PM - Edit history (1)

[on point]

5. No. The threat to our safety occurred with the torture itself, not the report.

[stone space]

6. Our need to torture is compromsing our need for safety. (nt)

[Bandit]

7. A very emphatic NO

It isn't finding out about torture that jeopardizes safety it is the actual torture that does..Want to keep Americans safer then don't torture people. Pretty simple..

[el_bryanto]

8. They are two conflicting values - you have to balance them out

Sometimes national security does trump our need to know as citizens - the problem is though that we've had some 16 years of administrations who come down on the other side of that equation reflexively, so that it's very hard to trust a government spokesman when he tells me to trust him.

While there might be some danger in more knowledge, there is considerably more damage in allowing our government to act as they want with no citizen oversight.

Bryant

[mfcorey1]

12. Excellent analysis!

[arcane1]

9. The torture victims, and their families, already know.

We mere citizens are the only ones still out of the loop.

[kentuck]

10. I cannot understand why there would be any moral ambivalence...

about this.

Criminals need to be punished.

[msongs]

11. "then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" nt

[KingCharlemagne]

13. I, for one, would like to know if U.S. government forces sodomized

Iraqi children in front of their parents. To steal a line from Ben Franklin, he who would sacrifice knowledge for safety deserves neither.

[bullwinkle428]

14. What Would Cheney Say?

[One_Life_To_Give]

15. Rephrased, Is our Liberty compromising our safety? Oh yes it is.

Cause our Need to Know really is about protecting our Liberty. And yes they have been at odds throughout history. We can make you very safe by keeping you in a place like a SuperMax Prison. Or a little less safe where camera's both visible and infrared monitor you continuously 24/7. Or you can accept that yes somebody might try to kill you someday. But we are not going to have people monitoring your every movement.

[Marrah_G]

16. I prefer a free, ethical, open society

Not one where anything can be hidden by claiming it is for our own good.