Military Intelligence and Prisoners of War
An argument frequently heard from non-military commentators in recent days explains that pressure on U.S. military prison guards to mistreat Iraqi and Afghan prisoners arose from the urgent need for intelligence which could save many American lives, intelligence which could potentially be extracted from the prisoners by means of torture. Such arguments neglect to state what should be obvious but apparently is not: this pressure always exists, and always has existed, in every situation where armed forces who are in harm's way take prisoners of war who may possess valuable intelligence - that is, in virtually every situation where armed forces take prisoners of war.