The terrorism arrests in London pose a particular problem for me. There's been a lot of evidence that shows that torture DOES NOT WORK. If you torture a person long enough he'll admit to and tell you whatever it is he thinks you want to hear so you'll stop torturing him. Now, while the British have said for some time that they've been watching this group of young Muslims, the big break came when two people were arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of working with bin Laden. (source: http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-08-11T151934Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-263229-6.xml) Soon after the arrests, Pakistan notified the UK and the US about the plot and the people were arrested. Now, some in the UK said that investigators were not planning to arrest these folks for a while, but were pressured by the US (source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14320452/)
based on the Pakistani intelligence. What if these suspected jihadists was tortured for information, and that was what set this whole chain of events into motion?
Pakistan is known to torture prisoners, even sometimes with the help and approval of the United States. (source: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/05/24/pakist11005.htm)
Does that still mean it's a victory against terrorism? Was the plot as serious as it was made out to be? Or was it made to be more than thought due solely to the information provided from the dark corners of the Pakistani interrogation rooms?
