Saturday, November 19, 2005

The Whole Story...Not!

ABC has an article up that "reveals" what the "enhanced interrogation techniques" are that I mention in an earlier post.

The techniques they list are:

1. The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.

2. Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear.

3. The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage.

4. Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions.

5. The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water.

6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.

This information is supposedly direct from the CIA. This is a very interesting article because what it is trying to do is separate these "techniques" from torture per se and getting the public used to the idea. They are supposedly only used in limited cases and are carefully monitored.

Don't believe it folks, as this is just more "sunshine up your kilt". You can see that none of these things sound like "real" torture. Water boarding is the most extreme and nobody is actually hurt right? I guess we are supposed to conveniently forget about the broken bones, bruises, scars and dead bodies. If these things are so tame why do we feel it necessary to haul these guys off to foriegn countries to "gently persuade them to lie to us".

Think it through. The people that volunteered to be trained in these techniques, and the other ones we are not being told about, are more than likely sociopaths already. Who the hell volunteers to inflict pain and fear in another person? Do you honestly think, knowing what you know of human nature, that these folks stop here? Do you think all the photos and stories we are seeing are fakes?

For the most part, the article is ABC News carrying water for the adminstration once again. If you take it at face value you are a sucker.

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