I recently saw Rescue Dawn, a film about Dieter Dengler, a German-American Navy pilot. The film is rated PG-13, for intense violence and torture. I was surprised to see the the word "torture" instead of some euphemism like "enhanced interrogation," but I was thankful someone was still calling a spade a spade.
What kind of "torture" does Dieter experience in the film? Being dragged by an ox; being hung upside down with an ants' hive placed next to his face; and being subjected to simulated drowning. It's not waterboarding per se, but it comes so close, the difference is minimal.
Basically, in 2006, Bush's DOJ team and the MPAA differed on whether simulated drowning constituted "torture." It's a sad day when the MPAA's common sense trumps a President's. Shame on Bush II and his administration. As far as 1984-esque terms go, "enhanced interrogation techniques" is right up there with "collateral damage."
"And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." -- Robert Frost
1 comment:
Obviously, you didn’t get the memo: It’s OK to call it torture when someone else does it to us, but it’s “enhanced interrogation” when we do it to them.
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