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Happy New Year, Gitmo!
Holy BeJesus: Next time J.J. Abrams is trying to drum up an inventive interrogation/torture technique for one of his television shows or films, he need look no further for inspiration than the United States Government. In accordance with a FOIA request, the FBI has released documents related to aggressive interrogation techniques at Gitmo. And it’s not pretty. At all.
Among the many, many transgressions, there are reports of: 1) detainees chained hand and foot in the fetal position and left for long periods of time in their own feces and urine; 2) a detainee left in a room so hot and unventilated, he pulled out his own hair; 3) reports that an interrogator wrapped a bearded detainee’s face in duct tape (and laughed at him); 4) sleep deprivation, including strobe lights and loud music; 5) rumors of a interrogator giving a detainee a lap dance; 6) a detainee being baptized by a man dressed as a priest to “save” him; 7) wrapping an Israeli flag around a detainee; and 8) interrogators laughing and blowing cigar smoke in detainees’ faces, among many other foul interrogation techniques.
Worse still, in many of the above instances, the interrogators recorded that the techniques were approved by either the Department of Defense or Donald Rumsfeld. Agents at the FBI purportedly only witnessed these techniques, and were cleared of any participation.
Maybe the media, in general, has harped so much on the Gitmo detainee abuse that the entire country has more or less become desensitized to it, and without the benefit of Hi Def video footage, it’s unlikely that anyone will care anytime soon. But, it is worth noting that the Supreme Court ruled last November that Gitmo detainees were entitled to the protections under the Geneva Convention. Yet, of the approximately 740 prisoners brought to Guantanamo, 435 have not been released, the large majority of which who are being held indefinitely.
In other news, Barack Obama may need to watch himself, too, lest he be the next to end up in Guantanamo Bay, at least according to CNN.
Comments
are 6 and 7 really so bad?
I can see those only being "torturous" to someone whose beliefs are fairly bigoted to start with.
The rest of the stuff is highly unacceptable, of course.
Posted by j. | January 3, 2007 4:51 PM
Yes... by all means... let's care about terrorists. They certainly care about us.
Posted by Meagan | January 3, 2007 6:32 PM