Hope for the future? 60% of teens believe in torture.

[thundley4]

marmar   (1000+ posts)             Tue May-03-11 08:49 PM
Original message
Digby: 60% of US Teens Believe Torture Is OK   
   
Shocking: 60% of US Teens Believe Torture Is OK


MSNBC just did a story on something that I had wondered about as well --- why were so many big celebrations after the announcement of bin Laden's death particularly raucous among college students around the country? They showed footage of various campuses and interviewed a couple of the students who explained that they were in the 6th grade when it happened and were just thrilled that it was finally over and that justice was finally done. It was truly a huge, patriotic moment for them.

I realized that the "War on Terror" has been going on for half their lives, so it seems like forever to them. And it reminded me just how much the zeitgest of the moment is "reality" when you are young. The GWOT and the militarization of America is just the way the world is to young people today. Which is probably why they also believe in this:

A new study by the American Red Cross obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast found that a surprising majority—almost 60 percent—of American teenagers thought things like water-boarding or sleep deprivation are sometimes acceptable. More than half also approved of killing captured enemies in cases where the enemy had killed Americans. When asked about the reverse, 41 percent thought it was permissible for American troops to be tortured overseas. In all cases, young people showed themselves to be significantly more in favor of torture than older adults.

Torture has been around as long as there have been wars, but media coverage of enhanced interrogation techniques has risen the visibility of torture since the attacks of September 11. Could the generation who came of age since the towers fell have a different notion of what’s acceptable in a time of war? “Over the past 10 years, they’ve been exposed to many new conflicts,” says Isabelle Daoust, who heads ARC’s humanitarian law unit. “But they haven’t been exposed to the rules.” ..............(more)


.............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/578084/sho... /

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1029307

Bonobo   (1000+ posts)           Tue May-03-11 08:51 PM
Original message
THAT is the longest surviving legacy of OBL.
   
Edited on Tue May-03-11 08:51 PM by Bonobo
Not the Towers which the US still has not been able to rebuild.

It is the death of the image of the US as the good guy, both from within and from without.

freshwest   (1000+ posts)           Tue May-03-11 09:19 PM
Response to Reply #5
9. With every GOP figure sanctioning it and FOX's '24' on the air, what do we expect?   
   
Not only that, numerous movies, video games and programs acting as if brutalizing people is admirable, if they are seen as inferior or a threat. Even some evangelical churches said it was okay. Everything is okay, if it's for 'national security.'

Our morals and sense of decency and tolerance for differences are long gone. Look at this cesspool they grew up in. Anything seen as kind or humane is considered a weakness, anything not perfect or profitable isn't deemed worthy to live.

We don't have the moral standing to begin to change the media culture when we won't prosecute those responsible. They bred a mindset to get people to go and invade other countries for money.

I don't know how to turn the tide back. It might take another generation, but by that time, will there be anyone still left to teach that things were ever any different than this?

Really? I thought only old people watched Fox and listened  to conservatives.  Most of the replies are basically the same.

[Karin]

anything not perfect or profitable isn't deemed worthy to live.

Such as a baby with Down Syndrome or not perfectly timed. 

[JohnnyReb]

Has the 50 year liberal war to pussify America failed?

[DumbAss Tanker]

Two observations:

1.  The Daily Beast?  Though she isn't related to this article, I cannot imagine a more appropriate title for a web site where Megan McCain is featured, though of course one might tend to expect somewhat different content than it actually carries.

2.  This nicely offsets that poll of Bay Area inbreds who had no idea who OBL was, and shows there may be hope for the future after all, because these kids may not know a lot of facts but at least they can think clearly instead of falling back on their indoctrinated teachings.

[Vagabond]

The Daily Beast found that a surprising majority—almost 60 percent—of American teenagers thought things like water-boarding or sleep deprivation are sometimes acceptable.

Why didn't the Daily Beast have any more information than that.  Sometimes permissible covers a deliberately broad area.  Sometime permissable may mean only when you have a high level known terrorist with strategic information of which you know some but need him to fill in the gaps, he is captured over seas, and law enforcement is not involved in the torture and is not permitted to know the information was gathered using torture.  Also, permanantly harming the individual is not acceptable.  That would be acceptable sometimes according to the Daily Beast.

[Freeper]

Given a choice of having to endure the interrogation methods we use, or endure what the Muslims do to their prisoners, I would take our ways any day. Getting waterboarded, as we have done to only 3 people, is much better than having your head sawed off, as they have done to countless people over the centuries.

If you want to talk about real torture, try having a plane (full of innocent people who will die), fly into a skyscraper you are in, setting it on fire, (you can't out), so you jump to your death. So you won't get any tears from me over what we do to our prisoners.

[Ballygrl]

60% of US Teens Believe Torture Is OK

Good! I was worried that regressive indoctrination in the schools were going to turn out a generation of wimpy kids.