I know from personal experience that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad than good intelligence.
Interpretation
Torturing prisoners often leads to unreliable information and ethical concerns.
John McCain's quote emphasizes that inflicting pain on prisoners to extract intelligence is not only morally wrong but also ineffective. His personal experience suggests that the information gained under duress is often flawed, leading to more harm than benefit, reinforcing the idea that humane treatment is essential for gathering accurate intelligence.
In practice
This quote could be used in a debate about the ethics of interrogation techniques.
Giap was a master of logistics, but his reputation rests on more than that. His victories were achieved by a patient strategy that he and Ho Chi Minh were convinced would succeed - an unwavering resolve to suffer immense casualties and the near total destruction of their country to defeat any adversary, no matter how powerful.
Whenever America sends its citizens into harm's way, it must do so with eyes wide open.
For decades we have been living lives of abundance, with little regard for our natural resources or global health. But we are now facing hard choices in our energy policy. Future generations - my children and grandchildren, along with yours - will have to live with the decisions we make today. And so it is time for us to make some tough and - hopefully - smart choices regarding our energy use and production before it is too late.
We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital.
I appreciate our government's determination to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the Bytyqi brothers, which Serbia's Interior Minister has rightly called 'an exceptionally serious crime,' and hope the Serbian government's pledge of full cooperation... is matched by a final accounting of their murder.
What is most troubling about Mr. Putin's aggression in Crimea is that it reflects a growing disregard for America's credibility in the world. That has emboldened other aggressive actors - from Chinese nationalists to Al Qaeda terrorists and Iranian theocrats.
The greatest advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science and literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.
But that is the thing about miracles: it is perception that determines them as such, not facts.
We have to have powder for our wigs; that is why so many poor people have no bread.
It is hard not to see into the future, faced with today's blind architecture - a thousand times more stupid and more revolting than that of other ages. How bored we shall be inside!
We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one.
Illegal immigrants in considerable numbers have become productive members of our society and are a basic part of our work force. Those who have established equities in the United States should be recognized and accorded legal status. At the same time, in so doing, we must not encourage illegal immigration.
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