Cry me a river
HOLD THE PRESSES. I’ve discovered that the use of torture by the U.S. government is far more pervasive than previously believed. There are major facilities all over the country where thousands of men and women who have not committed any crime are held for prolonged periods while subjected to physical and psychological coercion that violates every tenet of the Geneva Convention.
They are routinely made to stand for long periods in uncomfortable positions. They are made to walk for hours while wearing heavy loads on their backs. They are bullied by martinets who get in their faces and yell insults at them. They are hit and often knocked down with clubs known as pugil sticks. They are denied sleep for more than a day at a time. They are forced to inhale tear gas. They are prevented from seeing friends or family. Some are traumatized by this treatment. Others are injured. A few even die.
Should Amnesty International or the International Committee of the Red Cross want to investigate these human-rights abuses, they could visit Parris Island, S.C., Camp Pendleton, Calif., Ft. Benning, Ga., Ft. Jackson, S.C., and other bases where the Army and Marines train recruits. It’s worth keeping in mind how roughly the U.S. government treats its own defenders before we get too worked up over the treatment of captured terrorists.
I’ll guaran-gott-damn-tee you that most Americans don’t give a fart in a whirlwind about the treatment of captured terrorists. There are those who are legitimately concerned about the use of torture, but the sad fact is that most of what is being complained about isn’t really torture, and most of those complaining are just looking for another way to smear the US and its soldiers and to undermine the war. It’s the same with white phosphorous, Gitmo, and just about everything else the Loons open their yaps about. They’re so guileful and dishonest that virtually nothing they say can be taken at face value anymore.
With all the uproar over torture, you would think we handled prisoners the way Saddam Hussein did. The former dictator’s trial has featured copious testimony on how his goons raped, mutilated, beat or murdered those who fell under suspicion of disloyalty. This type of treatment — fingernails pulled, electric shocks applied, sharp objects put where they don’t belong — is what the word “torture” commonly connotes. That’s not what American operatives are up to.
And now some shrieking hysterical moral equivalence from the formerly esteemed Andrew Sullivan, just to prove the point:
Just keep slicing the salami until you’re torturing innocent children. And we deposed Saddam for what again?
Y’know, I’ve heard Valium works really well for this sort of thing. Or maybe it’d be better to say it with poetry:
Nembutol numbs it all
but I prefer alcohol
Okay, I admit, Will Warren I ain’t.
(Via Insty)
- Entries
keep up the good work, boys.
-Faris Al-Sultan, winner of the Kona Ironman (whose Cannondale included an American flag, BTW).
That's what we ousted Saddam for.