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The Fallacy of the Ticking Time Bomb
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The use of the "ticking time bomb" (TTBS) scenario to justify torture (talking to you Dick Cheney, Richard Haass, John Yoo, et al), is fundamentally flawed because it is impossible to meet all of the problem's criteria.
What are the criteria? Ten elements must be in place:
1. An attack is imminent
2. Legal and other authorities know about this imminent attack
A Tale of Two Speeches
Monday, June 1, 2009
On May 21 Big Media and the Internet went bananas over the dueling rhetoric of President Barack Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Nevermind the nuances of their respective arguments on whether or not (or how) to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and keep our country safe from terrorists, news and information outlets were more interested in the heavy weight fight theme than anything.
Couric & Haass Discuss Wars of "Choice" and "Necessity"
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Last night at the venerable 92Y, Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass took a few questions from a smiley, curious, leggy Katie Couric. Haass has a new book out, War of Necessity, War of Choice, and The MANTLE would love a good progressive critique of it--so get crackin'!
