Comments on: Everything is Worse Than You Think

By: peony

peony — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:35:24 +0000

““we don’t like your country or your people anymore”

Perris @10, I know someone who travels extensively and tells people routinely that he’s Canadian rather than admit that he’s an American.

By: peony

peony — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:27:40 +0000

TRex, thank you for writing about this very important but difficult subject. You are great asset to this blog.

UCSB is currently holding a series of lectures “Torture and the Future: Perspectives from the Humanities.” I went to hear Alfred McCoy, author of “A Short History of Psychological Torture: Its Discovery, Propagation, Perfection & Legalization.”

I was struck by the following:

Regarding the widely known photo of the hooded prisoner with electrodes attached to his fingers:

This photo shows two key components of a uniquely American brand of torture: sensory deprivation and “self-inflicted pain.” The “self-inflicted” aspect of this allows those conducting the torture to do so without laying a hand on the prisoner and refers to so-called “stress positions,” like standing for days at a time. What happens is fluid builds around the ankles and eventually results in kidney failure. So, stress positions are in reality torture even under the Bush Administration’s perverted, obfuscating definition.

Sensory deprivation is an insidious form of psychological torture.

The US ratified the UN convention against torture, but applies to physical torture only and does not include psychological torture.

By: JeffinBerlin

JeffinBerlin — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 10:47:47 +0000

stratocruiser@67
You have hit the nail on the head. As an ex-serviceman I know that some of the action I saw in the 60’s (Aden, Borneo, Vietnam, etc.) left a lasting impression on me. Sometimes I see an image or a video clip and the whole episode comes flooding back - and that after 40 years!

Buffey St. Marie said it all with “Universal Soldier” - it’s the man holding the gun who is responsible.

By: DeanOR

DeanOR — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:22:09 +0000

Late to this discussion. I had not heard about Alyssa Peterson until now. This is so sad. To me, it kind of sums up all the degradation, tragedy, and waste of human life in this American Iraq war.

By: Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 06:38:42 +0000

Hey therapod, don’t forget at the end of the story i’ve been completely rehabilitated. While i became a renewable energy pioneer, Liddy went to prison. No one can take away my track record now, nor my credentials. How he became a pundit is very telling about what amurkan society has become. In fact, it’s damning.

By: stratocruiser

stratocruiser — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 05:50:44 +0000

One more minor little thing to worry about. All these military torturers will come home and look for jobs in fields where they have experience, like the police or prison guards.

By: Witney

Witney — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 05:13:38 +0000

This just makes me sick. Where do they find these people that can do this to detainees? are these the skinheads and gang members we’ve heard about or is it just plain ol’ all American Joe six-pack? I willing to bet its the latter. What a great legacy you’ve left on this country GWB. Heckuva Job George and Dick.

By: markfromireland

markfromireland — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 05:07:50 +0000

Yes Trex, things are much worse than you think. If you don’t believe me ask Mohammed Ibn Laith. a 16 year old living in Baghdad who writes on my site.

Running with Abu Hussein and his sons stumbling as I run towards the smoke. Knowing where to run to automatically. Knowing that today it was my fathers turn to go with the others to the market. How will I tell my mother that my father too is dead?

*poof*

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 04:33:17 +0000

It’s too bad The Washington Post didn’t put Eric Fair’s commentary on the Front Page where it belongs.

By: rumi

rumi — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 04:03:29 +0000

Tragic but excellent post.

Can anyone tell me how the disgusting abuses of human life and dignity can be accepted in a society that wants to criminalize spanking?

I’ve been speaking out against these outrages since they were accused to be rumors, as so many of us have.

I want my country back and folks we’re gonna take our country back from those pathological abusers.