Center-Right, Right-Wing Bloggers On Torture Arguments, Part 2

Let’s focus on morality:

Peter Wehner in Commentary:

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/morality-and-enhanced-interrogation-techniques-15125

Jim Manzi: “Maybe I’m morally obtuse about this (again, I mean that non-rhetorically), but I don’t see how a non-pacifist makes the moral case against torturing captured combatants. Of course, there are at least two ways to interpret that. One is that torture of captured combatants is not morally wrong. The other is to see this as an example of why we should be skeptical about moral reasoning as a way to answer the question; that is, of why we must rely on moral intuition and the traditions of our society.”

http://theamericanscene.com/2009/04/27/why-is-torture-wrong

Will at Ordinary Gentleman picks up on part of Manzi’s argument, where Manzi wonders what the difference is between killing on the battlefield and what happens after a combatant surrenders:

“In the case of torture, then, a captured POW is no longer participating in combat and therefore entitled to certain basic protections. This is entirely consistent with the notion of limiting the number of acceptable targets for military retaliation to certain readily-identifiable actors.”

http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/04/why-they-fight/

And some other responses to Manzi. John Schwenkler:

http://theamericanscene.com/2009/04/27/why-counterfeiting-is-wrong-and-why-torture-is-too

Daniel Larison weighs in on the torture debate, answering Manzi’s post:

http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2009/04/27/torture-and-war/

See the debate continue? Put it in the comments.

EARLIER: https://aroundthesphere.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/center-right-right-wing-bloggers-on-torture-arguments/

UPDATE: Ramesh Ponnuru at the Corner:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZThiODIwMjJhYmNkY2FlODVjYzdiYWMyZTcyNzY1NTI=

UPDATE #2: Chris Orr at The New Reublic responds to Manzi:

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/04/28/the-difference-between-battle-and-torture.aspx

As does David Schaengold:

http://plumblines.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/why-torture-is-wrong/

(h/t: Andrew Sullivan)

UPDATE #3: Jim Manzi write a long post against waterboarding:

http://theamericanscene.com/2009/04/29/against-waterboarding