I have located a 2006 documentary from the Australian television show Dateline. which discusses and may provide context to the newly-rediscovered torture pictures which are making the rounds (judge for yourself whether or not you believe the government's explanation for the photos, or what is being left out).
This is the video mentioned in the Telegraph article.
- Torture actually reduces our national security
- Most of those tortured were innocent
- They were not tortured in order to prevent terrorist attacks, but to create a false justification for the war in Iraq (by creating a false linkage between Iraq and Al Qaeda) (and see this).
- Attorney General Holder has admitted that torture is a crime, at least if it results in death. Many have been tortured to death.
- Worse was done at Guantanamo and at Bagram Air base.
- Torture has also been used throughout history as a form of intimidation, to terrorize people into obedience. However, it is not yet clear whether or not this was one of the reasons that the Bush administration implemented a policy of torture.
You can view the movie by:
Clicking here
Warning: Graphic, explicit, disturbing images. Do not view if these would upset you.
If the above site goes down, you can locate another version of the documentary by clicking here.
See also this.
I recently commented at this blog about the use of torture to extract "confessions" about the supposed Iraq-Al Qaeda link. I was wrong, because I did not know that Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi had actually been tortured to give such a "confession." I apologize for my unfounded criticism, which was based on a concern that what I thought was a failure to get such a "confession" could be used to argue that other "confessions" were valid.
ReplyDeleteI remember having seen the "newly rediscovered" torture pics the first time around. They were part of the Abu Ghraib picture release. Why is it that so many people have the attention span of goldfish these days?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to thank you, and people who have websites like you, who aren't part of the CIA/GOP mainstream media ANBCBSNNX, for keeping us informed of what they don't want us to know.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru0bxSqWMdo
ReplyDelete