The NYT on the dark world of America’s torture centers. Not in my name.
Related Posts
Press Release: A Dutch Appeal to All New Yorkers
This comes via a friend, and I thought the sentiment was quite nice. Please click on the PDF links. The images are funny. — Thursday, September 9th PRESS RELEASE REAL World Citizens A Dutch appeal to all New Yorkers to keep leading by example as the World’s center of diversity. In May 2010 a new initiative, REAL Dutch, was launched in anticipation of the controversial participation of Geert Wilder’s right-wing PVV party in parliamentary elections. A series of posters was spread on the streets and in the media to show how muslimas are just as much Dutch as any other…
Iraqi Voices
Maybe instead of talking about them, we should be listening to them. This is a great project by a great group, and some really wonderful people whom I am privileged to know. Part of what happens when you bring a group of artists to speak to refugees (or really to speak to anyone), is that the subject of art comes up. When people hear that we are artists, they tend to start telling us about the art that they know and love. There stories begin to be told on the level of music and dance, picture and sound.
NYPD’s Religious Profiling – Ta-Nehisi Coates – National – The Atlantic
NYPD’s Religious Profiling – Ta-Nehisi Coates – National – The Atlantic. This where you see the really long-term effects of terrorism. It’s not simply the number of people you murder, it’s how the smallest can alter the character of a country. Some incompetent asshole straps a bomb to his underwear, and now we have to get full body scans. The free exchange of ideas is one of democracy’s greatest benefits. Universities, ostensibly, are supposed to showcase that more than anywhere else. But for want of conjured evil, we’re willing to part with that asset.
One thought on “It was and is torture”
Comments are closed.
My reaction to this always, apart from the shock at the sheer inhumanity, is – why would anyone be stupid enough to think that torture would work? If the purpose is to gather information, to intimidate, to coerce a confession, torture is arguably the WORST tactic to achieve any of those goals. It’s also expensive and time consuming. In terms of winning the ‘broader’ war, it’s a disastrous move. At an executive level, how can anyone have thought that this would achieve any practical purpose?