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12/20/2005 Archived Entry: "What is torture?"

YOU KNOW, WE COULD EASILY SETTLE THIS QUESTION about what constitutes torture and what is "merely" an uncomfortable form of interrogation. Rather than sitting here cringing as the alleged leaders of the allegedly free world exchange lawyerly weasel words to justify medieval practices, here's a simple solution.

Submit George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzalez, Condoleezza Rice, and Donald Rumsfeld to the interrogation techniques they claim are not "torture." Let them endure those techniques exactly as they'd be inflicted on anybody else -- just as vigorously, just as long, and with just as little knowledge of when the "discomfort" will stop. Let the CIA handle it. They've got decades of experience inflicting this alleged non-torture.

Then let Our Glorious Leaders come back and share their experiences with the world. If, after that, they still insist that waterboarding, strappado, hoods, electric shocks, biting dogs, extreme heat, cold, constant darkness, etc. aren't torture, I say we believe them.

Ready to volunteer, Dubya, Alberto, Condi, and Don? C'mon. It's all in what you tell us is a good cause.

Posted by Claire @ 01:55 PM CST
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