Examples Of Logical Fallacies And Propaganda From Media--Let's Learn to Recognize Them and Teach Others To Do So.
AN EXAMPLE OF A LOGICAL FALLACY
Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney stated on Fox News, that the torture done by the CIA, and in particular, that in which the new director Gina Haspel was complicit, is acceptable because "it works." He then went on to state that Sen. John McCain, apparently known to the dude-bros in the military as "songbird John" only opposes torture because it worked on him in Vietnam.
This is an excellent example of a faulty conclusion drawn from a faulty premise. It is also an excellent example of an ad hominem attack on someone with a different opinion.
The faulty premise is "If something works, it is acceptable." Under this premise, the fact that torture worked to extract "confessions" from people during the time of the Inquisition makes that torture acceptable. Going further down the slippery slope, the premise would support the horrific conclusion that the gas chambers of the concentration camps worked to rid Europe of those pesky Jews, so they were acceptable. Lots of things "work" but are morally reprehensible. The effectiveness of something logically cannot be used to argue it necessarily complies with ethical or moral standards. The two things are not related. Therefore, the fact that torture "works" is irrelevant to whether it is right to do.
In addition, criticizing Senator McCain's stance on torture because torture "worked" on him is also irrelevant, and simply attacks the Senator. While Senator McCain's experience with torture may have colored his views, it does not make those views necessarily invalid or valid. Similarly, whether one regards Senator McCain as a hero or a traitor, a good guy, a bad guy, or somewhere in between does not lead to a conclusion that his opposition to torture is valid or invalid.
In my own opinion, I wonder if, based on the macho man portrayal of military personnel in popular media, as well as the "torture porn" stories of martyrs many people were told as part of their religious education, our society may have an inaccurate view about what would cause a person to "break" under torture. Thank God, I do not know--and neither does McInerney, since his service record, while distinguished, does not reflect incarceration and torture by the North Vietnamese.