Torture: Are We Going To Let Them Get Away With It?

[kpete]

Torture: Are We Going To Let Them Get Away With It?
by Chacounne
Wed Jan 05, 2011 at 05:05:07 PM PST

Did they have a lie detector? I asked myself. The man was holding something in his hands. It looked like two irons that he was rubbing together. Or one of those machines used to revive people who have heart attacks. Before I realized what was happening, I felt the first jolt.

It was electricity. An electric shock. They put the electrodes to the soles of my feet. There was no way to remain seated. It was as though my body was lifting itself off the ground of its own accord. I felt the electric current going through my whole body. There was a bang. It hurt a lot. I felt warmth, jolts, cramps. My muscles cramped up and quivered. That hurt, too.

... I heard screams.

They were my screams

Murat Kurnaz - From his memoir,
as an innocent prisoner of the United States,
Five Years of My Life
more, much more:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/1/5/933674/-Torture:-Are-We-Going-To-Let-Them-Get-Away-With-It

[Lint Head]

1. They already have. Bush and Cheney will die of old age rich.

Their families should be ashamed of them.

[aquart]

4. Nah, the families inherit. They hope tax free.

Greedy unpatriotic bastards.

[mmonk]

2. Yes. The United States officially backs torture by defending it in court.

Any rhetoric to the contrary is to pacify Democratic Party liberals still suffering any delusional fantasy it would be addressed by its party.

[pscot]

3. How do we stop ém

Voting for change doesn't seem to work very well. If anyone has a plan, I'd like to hear it.

[Luminous Animal]

5. We've been getting away with it for decades in our Supermax prisons.

[saras]

6. Yep

We are - we already have, and continue to, and have laws in place to support it for the foreseeable future.

The question is whether the rest of the world will, or whether we'll get our own version of the Nuremberg trials eventually. It's a hell of a thing to pray for, but every time I pray for justice, this is what I find myself visualizing.

[GeorgeGist]

7. Obama and Holder did.

[grahamhgreen]

8. Ummm...

[chill_wind]

9. K & R. n/t

[uncommon]

10. Yes.

[rhett o rick]

11. Bradley Manning

[Luminous Animal]

15. U.S. prisoners in Supermax prisons whose conditions have been condemned by

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and The U.N. Committee Against Torture.

[lonestarnot]

12. Sure as hell looks like it. We may not see it, but they will pay for what they've done in some form

or fashion.

[jberryhill]

13. Yes

I blame Ulysses Grant.

[Luminous Animal]

16. Do you support torture?

[jberryhill]

17. No

My understanding of the question is that it requests a prediction.

[Luminous Animal]

18. My understanding of your response is that you are willing to do nothing.

[jberryhill]

19. Well for a year I owned JayBybee.com

And had a web page calling for his impeachment.

What have you done? Less than that, I'd guess.

Let me try this question.

"If someone behind you throws a brick at your head, will it hit your head?"

I would answer that question the same way.

(on edit: I'm surprised no one picked up the domain after I didn't renew it, actually. Perhaps you'd like to start a post in the "threads about me" forum, since of several yes responses in this thread, you seem most interested in my yes response.)

[Luminous Animal]

20. I've owned a leftist political discussion board for 8 years.

It doesn't come close to the impact of my real life political activism. So yes, I've done much more through direction action to make ensure women's rights, civil rights, environmental rights, and economic rights than you can you can ever dream. You see, I meet with actual people and I go to government meetings and I talk to my reps directly. I work in coalition with real actual people; unions, religious groups, and community organizers to maintain rights won and to expand those that will be won. I volunteer to knock on doors and hand out fliers. And I am embarking on a new venture that is pretty exciting and it will involve real people organizing and reaching out to real people on a monthly basis.

Believe it or not, an extremely small percentage of the U.S. public use the internet to access political content. If you want to make an impact, you have to lead real live actual people to it. You may not be able to make them drink, but you might get them to thinking about drinking.

For what it is worth, I've risked my liberty for my political convictions... that is I've been jailed. That is how far I'm willing to go.

[jberryhill]

22. And yet, they are still going to get away with it

I had thought your question was directed to the specific question of torture, and not political activity in general.

If that were the broader question, then you can spare me the self righteousness, as you have not stated what you have done to stop them from getting away with it.

The "how do we stop them" response in this thread remains unreplied. Odd that.

[Luminous Animal]

26. Ah. I see. Well, I've worked with this group...

http://afsc.org/campaign/stopmax
And this one: http://www.prisons.org/index.htm

[Desertrose]

14. Don't you mean CONTINUE to get away with it? nt

[Solly Mack]

21. Not just get away with it...but

parade the guilty around as experts and someone worthy of respect.


and just watch....Cheney will die and get to lie in state...where America will honor a war criminal and far too many weak-minded doormats will defend the action of honoring a war criminal as protocol.

[spooked911]

23. unfortunately, it's not "we" who are in power

I don't "we" would let them get away with it if we could, and sadly those in power are too corrupt to listen to us and do the right thing.

[Enthusiast]

24. Apparently we are.

We must 'look forward'.

[spanone]

25. where is the world outrage? where are the world courts?

it would appear that no one really gives a shit

[Senator]

27. It Will Be Obama's Only Legacy

Driver of the Torture Getaway Car.

It could even cost him a second term, as a "prosecute torture" candidate might well take the nomination.

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