Abuse at Bagram

Apparently, we told some detainess, "Sorry," after holding them for 5 years. That was nice of us.

Torture

Lifted from John Schwenkler (via Sullivan):

Pretty stupid, apparently. I’m sure that this line of “thought” has been picked apart plenty of times in the anti-torture blogosphere, but Newt deserves a fisking of his own:

… waterboarding is not torture. Waterboarding has been routinely used to train American pilots in the military to understand what interrogation techniques they might encounter.

By extension:

• Having sex with a woman is not raping her. Sex is routinely had between men and women as an expression of love and a means to pleasure and procreation.
• Punching a man in the face is not assaulting him. Men routinely punch one another in the face in the boxing ring as a test of athletic prowess.
• Driving 75 miles an hour on a residential street is not speeding. Cars routinely drive 75 miles an hour or more on the highway.

Religion and Torture, pt 2

We know that, regardless of religion, a large percentage of Americans are OK with torture. (Although view is more widely held by white evangelicals compared to others, the difference isn't that large.) Yet theologians and religious leaders, by and large, unequivocally condemn it. What gives?

Religion & Torture

Now we know for sure that America tortures. Here's the breakdown of religious affiliation and views on torture.





See here for breakdown by party.

Bush on Torture

Brit Hume interviews our lame duck, who gives that hateful, irritating smirk while talking about authorizing the torture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (whom he refers to as Kah-Lake...I think that's wrong.)

Conflicted Thoughts on Torture

Ross Douthat on the complex emotions and thoughts people have about US "enhanced interrogation techniques." It is a piece that verbalizes the "inarticulate mix of anger, uncertainty, and guilt about the Bush administration's interrogation policy."