Such authorized techniques includes the following: keeping people in cold cells sometimes without clothes, standing for many hours in a stress position, physical roughness (slapping and shaking), barrages of loud music to deprive prisoner of sleep, and water boarding (strap prisons on the board and put cloth on faces and pour water on them) to give an impression of drowning, reported Scott Shane, one of the reporters from the New York Times.
I found this picture of water boarding:
Press Secretary, Dana Perino, reported that Bush has not and will not support torture. She stated, "I am not going to comment on any specific, alleged techniques. It is not appropriate for me to do so, and to do so would provide the enemy with more information for how to train against these techniques."Here are some links:
> NPR: Memos Reportedly Authorized Harsh Interrogation PODCAST
> NPR: White House Denies Authorizing Torture PODCAST
> NPR: White House Reacts to Interrogation Claims PODCAST
> Debate rages over secret Justice memo on torture
2 comments:
How can Dana Perino lie like that? Because they only consider it torture if there is permanent physical injury, an absurd definition to just about anyone, and moreover, one inconsistent with our historical norms as a nation. The whole thing makes me want to vomit. Check out:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/10/war-criminal.html
or the original NYT piece published today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/washington/04interrogate.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
PS: while this story has its complications, you would be a fool to deny that 1) the administration has consistently advocated for using these "harsh interrogation" techniques 2) there is scads of evidence showing that they have been used, repeatedly and 3) the US has previously denounced other countries who engage in these practices. We just read an except from "The Gulag Archipelago" in 10th grade history and all the torture techniques described therein have been committed by the US in recent years. I really believe that the torture issue will become a legacy of shame for our nation.
By not full out denying the act of torture going on, Dana Perino is using bad politics. It is always best to answer an accusation right away and with a straight answer. In Perino's statement she is obviously trying to cover up these acts by telling citizens that she can't talk about the issue. Also, by stating that commenting on the issue would allow the enemy to train against these techniques is basically telling us that these acts are surely going on.
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