GEETAN

TORTURE-R-US


What is going on in America? First of all, Dick Cheney admits that the US uses torture on whoever it decides is a terrorist suspect; and then Bush denies it.

It all began when Dick Cheney admitted that the US would use torture to extract information from a suspect. If for example the security services wanted to ascertain if an individual would admit to anything under torture so as to have the torture stop, then they could torture the individual to find out if that was true. That, by the way, is the perverse logic of torture. The quality of the information garnered from the suspect is, in itself, suspect. People will lie under pressure. Look at Dick Cheney and Bush. They lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq whilst being tortured… oh, hang on, they weren’t being tortured were they.

The torture Dick Cheney was referring to is called water torture. He was asked about it on a radio show hosted by Scott Hennen. Scott asked Dick if such a torture would be acceptable if it would unearth information of pending attacks and save lives. Dick said it would. It must be said Scott didn’t actually use the term, ‘water torture’. He called it ‘a dunk in the water’. By this we presume he didn’t mean the suspect would be threatened with a day at the beach, skinny dipping; nor did he mean the suspect would be forced to dunk a Hob Nob biscuit into his tea until he ‘fesses up with some juicy information about men with beards.

Dick did go on to say he was not condoning torture, which seems like a bit of a contradiction; one minute it’s okay to use torture and the next minute it isn’t; but the inconsistency is nothing new; the administration can talk out of both sides of it’s mouth at the same time, and lie with each.

I personally liked the bit where he said, ‘you can have a robust interrogation program without torture.’ What on earth is a ‘robust interrogation program?’ He makes it sound like an exercise regime. Perhaps it is, at least for the interrogators, working out on a suspect in one of the secret prisons operated by and on behalf of the US. Let’s not forget, even if the US does not use torture, it ships certain prisoners to countries where suspects are tortured for them; it out-sources, and has done so for years. One reason for this is it enables them to get around international law banning torture, and the other reason is probably this; because it is cheaper.

It reminds me of the way the big shopping malls and supermarkets have killed off a lot of the smaller, local shops, who can’t compete with the malls who can afford to undercut them by buying in bulk. There are places around the world where you can get two legs broken for the price of one and they will even dispose of the body at no extra cost; place like Pizza Cut, Wal-Martyr, Torture-R-Us, and Egypt. I guess the slogan would be, ‘We Maim to Please.’ The dictum, ‘The Customer is Always Right,’ becomes, ‘The Customer Is Always Right Wing Neo-Conservative Christian Administration in Washington.’

Water torture, by the way, is not fun and is also against the Geneva Convention. The suspect undergoes a brutal process in which he is made to believe he is drowning. Of course I say he, but in it could just as easily be a woman; we live in an age of equal opportunity torture. The process, by the way, is called Water Boarding. Now I feel there will be someone in California who is thinking, ‘water boarding? Hey, it’s a surfer terrorist dude. That’s way cool man.’ Just for you, dude, let me clarify what water boarding can involve. The prisoner is bound and gagged and possibly has his face covered with plastic, while water is poured all over him. It this doesn’t sound bad to you, let me say that the technique comes from the time of the Italian Inquisition. As you know, the inquisitors were not known for giving tummy rubs, group hugs and Reiki to their unfortunate victims. You may be interested to know that members of the CIA told ABC News that they had been trained to use the cellophane to over the face of the suspect to enhance the distress. As Torquemeda slowly rotates on a barbecue in hell, occasionally basting himself with onion gravy, he must be thinking, ‘I wish they had cellophane in my day.’

Senator John McCain, a veteran of the Vietnam War and also a victim of torture, described Water Boarding with the chilling words; a "very exquisite torture" that should be outlawed. Indeed, his name is on the amendment passed by the Senate banning all "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" of detainees by American soldiers and CIA operatives anywhere in the world.

This was a step in the right direction.

President Bush, however, took time out from being a devout, God fearing Christian to say he would veto any such blanket ban on torture or abuse. I can understand his concern; after all, torturers have feelings too. This gives rise to an interesting picture of Roman guards torturing Jesus with a spot of Water Boarding, asking ‘are you now, or have you ever been, the Son of God!?’ Bush would be in the corner going, ‘hey Jesus! Don’t worry ‘bout this. It might feel like torture but it isn’t!’

The CIA maintains its interrogation techniques are legal. So was crucifixion. So was gassing the Jews but was it a good thing to be doing to another human being? Was it moral?

When asked about the remark made by Dick Cheney, President Bush said the United States does not use torture and was not going to. He said the administration had no intention of torturing suspects. Now, I don’t know about you, but that makes me wonder why Bush vetoed the ban on all "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" of detainees. That and the document he signed in 2002, according to the CIA, approving the use of techniques, including Water Boarding, that "very exquisite torture" mentioned by Senator McCain.

Perhaps President Bush has forgotten this; or maybe he is just plain lying; possibly he doesn’t understand what the word torture means. I don’t know, but there is a way of finding out. Just abduct him in the middle of the night; ship him to a secret CIA base somewhere in the world; leave him in a small, cold grey cell with a blood encrusted blanket and the concrete floor to dig into his bones as he sleeps fitfully, fearfully; give him a bucket to shit in; let the world think he is forgotten; then tie him up and gag him; wrap cellophane around his face, and pour gallons of cold water over him so he thinks he’s drowning.

Then ask him the question.

Do you understand the definition of torture now, you dumb fuckwit.