General Paul Aussaresses RIP

For John, BLUF:  Not everything is permitted.

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From The New York Times we have notice of the death, at age 95, of French General Paul Aussaresses.  General Aussaresses was an example, during the French war in Algeria of how to win the war and lose your sense of humanity.  He was a practitioner of torture, because it worked, or at least seemed to work.

This is a topic that the General covered in his book Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria, 1955-57, which was the English version, out in 2002.  I read it, and was not convinced he had an approach we should emulate.  This is an issue that has been around for a long time.  In 1958 we had the book The Question, which talked about torture in the French fight to retain Algeria as part of Metropolitan France.  My Father introduced me to the book.  Sixty years before there had been the open letter from Writer Emile Zola in the newspaper, L'Aurore, with the title J'Accuse.

The "question" is if there are limits to what can be done in the name of state security?

Mark me down for yes.

Regards  —  Cliff