: Ethical Torture for Khalid Shaikh Muhammad?

Anti-terror zealots have responded to the capture of chief Al Qaeda suspect Khalid Shaikh Muhammad with one resounding question: “How much can we torture the guy?” Before he was transferred to US custody, even the Pakistanis were sanguine (“I would be surprised if they don’t,” said a Pakistani security analyst). And amidst the rantings of the New York Post and Fox News commentators, US polititians openly discuss flouting international toture conventions (or at least the “torture light” of sleep deprivation and the like). Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) suggested that Mohammed be turned over to a country that does not ban torture. “This is the man who has killed hundreds and hundreds of Americans.” He had since said that he was not condoning torture, which may speak well of the faint stirrings in the American conscience (er… 26% of MSNBC viewers) about what Amnesty International has been reminding us of for decades (US officials claim only “appropriate” pressure is used). Meanwhile, allies in Europe plan to keep a close watch on the treatment of any terror suspects. “A brief and hopeless plea to the CIA,” laments the Guardian. “Let us be true to our concept of morality. Leave Khalid’s balls alone, huh?”

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com.  He is based in London, England.