Torture does not pay. Kindness does.

[JDPriestly]

I lived in Germany and Austria for quite a few years. While there, a number of men came up to me and said how much they like America. They would try to speak a little English and then shyly add that they were taken prisoners of war by the Americans and they really appreciated that they were treated well. Several people told me that they had worked on American farms while prisoners. That is how you make friends and influence people. That is how you change enemies into allies.

Torture is not just cruel, sadistic and immoral. It is stupid. It makes an enemy into even more of an enemy. It makes someone who is innocent into someone who will do what he or she can in the future to avenge the cruelty.

[murielm99]

1. My father grew up in a German-speaking

farming community in Minnesota. During World War II, there was a POW camp nearby. Two of the young German soldier-prisoners worked on his family farm. My dad still has pictures of them.

His family spoke German with the prisoners. They treated them well, almost like family. The young prisoners worked with them during the day, and went back to the camp at night. They were cautioned about becoming too close to the Germans, because they were still the enemy.

The way my dad tells it, both the prisoners and his family respected the boundaries set for them, and the relationship was cordial on both sides. My dad never forgot it. This probably did much to promote future peace. Those prisoners certainly went home and told their families and friends the same positive things that my dad told us.