Torture’s ambiguous truth makes it a potent propaganda weapon for both sides

Evidence

The resort to torture poses moral problems that are just as germane to the world today as they were to the period under consideration. As Jean-Paul Sartre wrote in 1958, “Torture is neither civilian nor military, nor is it specifically French: it is a plague infecting our whole era.” But what is immediately of importance here is the influence, or influences, brought to bear by it upon the subsequent course of the Algerian war. And these were very potent indeed. It is one of the most difficult things in this world to establish the truth about torture; whether it did or did not take place, and the nature and scale of it. The plaintiff is as unlikely to tell the unadorned truth as his oppressor; for it is so superlative a propaganda weapon given into his hands. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s through-line of how French revolutionary/colonial ideology was fought back — torture as the weapon that turned French public opinion and international legitimacy. — connects to: Torture proved a boomerang weapon that undermined the power using it; Truth serum torture destroys victims’ capacity to distinguish true from false; Contradictory research findings enabled both sides to weaponize evidence selectively — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 9551 (+5 more)
• QUESTION: What precisely was the influence of torture exposure on the subsequent course of the Algerian war — did it galvanize anti-war sentiment in France?

Related

• Torture proved a boomerang weapon that undermined the power using it (similarity 0.86)
• Truth serum torture destroys victims’ capacity to distinguish true from false (similarity 0.86)
• Torture’s contested truth made it a lasting canker for France (similarity 0.85)
• Torture more than any single factor caused France’s Algerian defeat (similarity 0.84)
• Torture creates more terrorists than the bombs it uncovers (similarity 0.84)
• Torture boomeranged against France in the Algerian war (similarity 0.84)
• Torture is counterproductive even for intelligence gathering (similarity 0.84)
• Torture succeeding in the short term proves a double-edged long-term weapon (similarity 0.84)
• Torture won the Battle of Algiers but lost the war for France (similarity 0.84)
• The Battle of Algiers exposed torture as a lasting poison for France (similarity 0.83)
• Torture was the chief factor in France’s defeat. (similarity 0.83)
• Torture in Algeria left a lingering poison in the French system (similarity 0.82)
• Torture backfired as a boomerang weapon in the Algerian war. (similarity 0.82)
• Torture destroyed the Muslim third force and turned French opinion against the war (similarity 0.81)
• Torture was effective in winning the short-term battle of Algiers (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Torture’s contested truth made it a lasting canker for France #exemplifies (0.80)
• Torture succeeding in the short term proves a double-edged long-term weapon #expands (0.70) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 609
• Torture is counterproductive even for intelligence gathering #complicates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 52
• Unchallenged propaganda legitimized monitoring Muslims like Cold War reds #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 559