Watching Torture

Iran in early Shah's period did not have any organized intelligence organization, And if you look at the process of bringing such methods of torture to existence you would notice those are not the methods developed in Iran at that time, those torturers were taught some where else (most probably US which had a great relation with Iran at that time). Not blaming US, but anybody has seen the Battle of Algeria would know that it is a common characteristic of all Intelligence system to behave so and later justify it. I am not shocked to hear that these are happening now in US or anywhere else, may be more sophisticated and clean but the nature is the same, to break the person under torture. So in any sense destroying the documents was a huge betrayal to humanity. I do agree that the approach of the article is much tilted to be attractive rather than informative, but may be that's the way to communicate with people in this brave new world.

Iran in early Shah's period did not have any organized intelligence organization, And if you look at the process of bringing such methods of torture to existence you would notice those are not the methods developed in Iran at that time, those torturers were taught some where else (most probably US which had a great relation with Iran at that time). Not blaming US, but anybody has seen the Battle of Algeria would know that it is a common characteristic of all Intelligence system to behave so and later justify it. I am not shocked to hear that these are happening now in US or anywhere else, may be more sophisticated and clean but the nature is the same, to break the person under torture. So in any sense destroying the documents was a huge betrayal to humanity. I do agree that the approach of the article is much tilted to be attractive rather than informative, but may be that's the way to communicate with people in this brave new world.

i dont believe in or condone any kind of torture, just good journalism but this article clearly crosses the boundaries when comparing the forms the journalist watched. and for the wackos claiming the real terrorists are in the white house or that 9/11 was a government conspiracy you're making the left look like idiots

how can you compare the anal rape and dismemberment to what you're admittedly guessing here? stop the sensationalist journalism and stick to the facts your comparisons are beyond a stretch....

The true terrorists are in the white house as we speak.

The fact that violence can be categorized as pornography in its primary meaning is sickening. It's not clear from the article how videos of torture are pornographic and how that in itself influenced distruction of the CIA tapes. I think he is correct in relating the two. The "pornography of violence" commonplace in media has eroded our national values in a manner far worse than pornography in the traditional sense.

What is sad is when people in the military US Seanators who has been there and knows what torture is all about comes out against it. Then you have people who have never served a day in the Boy Scouts calling everyone a liberal who doesn't support these methods of interogation. Wow some people are just plain stupid!

What is sad is when people in the military like Senator Mcain who knows what torture is all about comes out against it. Then you have people who have never served a day in the Boy Scouts calling everyone a liberal who doesn't support these methods of interogation. Wow some people are just plain stupid!

There has never been any acceptable explanation of how much intellegence has really been gained. It is most probably junk because a person being tortured will say anything you want them to say, accurate or inaccurate. It is highly unlikely that one person has been saved through the use of torture. You never hear any facts around that point. America must stop sinking this low.... we are better people than this.

I don't understand... if we're mature enough to condone torture, aren't we mature enough to see it practiced? Anyone who is comfortable with waterboarding should be in a fury over the destruction of these tapes.

There has never been any acceptable explanation of how much intellegence has really been gained. It is most probably junk because a person being tortured will say anything you want them to say, accurate or inaccurate. It is highly unlikely that one person has been saved through the use of torture. You never hear any facts around that point. America must stop sinking this low.... we are better people than this.

I don't understand... if we're mature enough to condone torture, aren't we mature enough to see it practiced? Anyone who is comfortable with waterboarding should be in a fury over the destruction of these tapes.

Ok. Now we know what's more obscene, uglier, more disgusting than torture. Its the knuckle-draggers who support it.

OK, now we know what's more disgusting, more pornographic than the torture. Its the knuckle-dragging idiots who support it.

It is ironic that George Orwell is used as a reference. The use of such torture serves to desensitize citizens to the true horror of torture. How the term "enemy" is used is crucial as well. What happens when someone who is considered too patriotic, too unpatriotic, too conservative, too liberal, too religious, too atheistic or too concerned about torture is considered an enemy of the state? It might happen soon, but the more desensitized citizens become, the more likely it can happen in 15 to 20 years. Long live freedom.

The reference to Orwell is timely. How one's enemy is defined can be a slippery slope. What if our government chooses to see all protest as an act of war. One could end up on the water board for being too conservative, too liberal, too religious, too atheistic, too patriotic, too unpatriotic. If there isn't a stop put to this and no one speaks up, then all Americans be put at risk. It might not happen soon, but the desensitization to such treatment of human beings will make it likely in 20 to 30 years.

I still remember seeing Americans jumping for the World Trade Center...I rember Pearl Harbor and the Americans we would do anything to proctect her from our enemies. The motto know is let's be kind to our enemies. How quickly we forget....in seeing them beheading on of us. Let's get a grip and study history and remember what it would be like for us and our families if the enemy ever conquers the USA. You don't want to even go there.

I really don't care...I still have visions of Americans jumping for the trade center. Get a grip.

I love America and we should do everything to protect her.