Letters to the Editor
AJCalhoun
Published Letters: 964 Editor's Choice: 127
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Sure Torture Works...
[Read the article: Mixed messages on torture]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It produces the answers the torturer or his employer wants to hear and to be heard, true or not, reliable or not. If a prisoner can be forced physically to say what we want him to say it is no different than the rubber hose in the old precinct station, and if the detainee fails to survive the "session" it equates with the old cop con "He fell down some steps." Domestically we have closer oversight of our police practices and have even passed some laws that protect the rights of those suspected of having committed crimes or of having knowlege of such crimes. Something to do with that "innocent until proven guilty" crap.
The same does not hold true for us as a nation. We are being steered, yes all of us, every one of us who does not stand up and actively condemn him, by an ignorant-yet-clever, arrogant swine who has no respect for morality, humanity nor - and this is most significant - the guiding principles that make us uniquely American.
"I generally abhor Torture", wrote William S. Burroughs in his magnum opus "Naked Lunch." "It localizes the opponent and mobilizes his resistance... the threat of torture is useful to induce in the subject the apporpriate feeling of helplessness and gratitude to the interrogator for withholding it." He goes on, in the character of his literary nemesis Dr. Benway, to explain how various unsavory and inhumane approaches to getting information out of detainees generally only produces a certain desired result, but rarely any reliable facts. The subject being tortured is compared with a heroin addict who, deprived of his fix, will "lie, steal, cheat, inform on his friends - wouldn't you?" Well wouldn't you? Yes, you would.
The legendary heroic 14th century death of tortured detainee Jaques DeMolay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, after recanting his confession to a litany of absurd accusations exacted while on the rack, illustrates to us not only that a tortured prisoner will tell us anything to make the torture stop, but that in some cases it can, over the long haul, turn the tortured into an icon for the ages and even create a legacy of imitators which may well be invincible. That's just what we need working against us.
Detainees subjected to torture, degradation and humiliation will either tell you something incredibly wrong, will recant or, most likely, tell you anything you want to hear. And what we all know about this game is that truth, fact, is not the prize; All that is wanted is a witnessed confession which can then be "corroborated" by henchmen of the torturers to their employers and then passed along to the ever-gullible public as "fact."
The President knows this perfectly well. So did the authors of the new Army handbook. One defends the practice while telling us, out of the other side of his smirking mouth, that it is un-American. The other simply tells us it is not an acceptable practice under American nor international law and the Geneva Conventions. The former is to be condemned most vigorously. The latter is to be commended - and enforced. This last can and must be done. If it is not, who will answer?
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Some Thoughts on Irwin's Untimely Passing
[Read the article: Crocodile tears]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First of all, and no, I don't know Patricia Schwarz personally, but I'm liking her more and more - yes, Patricia, after having spent 40 years in the field of EMS I can assure you that you are correct: one leaves an impaled object in place, at least while in the field. If, in fact, Irwin did pull it out, which now appears to be in dispute, it could have led directly to his death. On the other hand, knowing just how painful even the sting of a small stingray is, I find it hard to imagine a man with both hands free not reflexively removing the barb. Excellent observation, however!
As for Irwin himself, I personally found his "showmanship" obnoxious and annoying, but that's just me. I was quite shocked and saddened to discover that this guy I thought I didn't like was suddenly - and quite weirdly - dead. I feel for his family, too, and I feel for the conservationist movement, regardless of arguments to the contrary regarding the usefulness of Irwin's contributions.
Regarding his actual and oh-so-unlikely demise, I can only think that the law of averages was pissed off at having been screwed with by him so much for so long. I'm sure a lot of people expected him to pass away suddenly minus his head, but this was so far removed from the more likely scenario that it gives me the creeps. There are many horribly painful singray injuries every year, but there have been only 17 deaths recorded worldwide, ever.
Finally, to Germaine Greer: I've been meaning to say this to you for a long time, dear - go fuck your nasty old self, will you please? Your observations on the passing of this remarkable, if somewhat odd and annoying man, are utterly meaningless, just like so much of what you've spewed over the years. Thanks for nothing. Now please just go away and shut the hell up. This is me, flipping you off. Over and out.