You’re probably well aware by now that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has released their report that says the United States tortured people during the War on Terror. Russell Brand has a pretty epic response to the reports.
Do you remember a time, perhaps when you were a young child, when your country was a shining beacon in your mind? When you proudly sang Born in the USA because you were too young to realize the context behind the words, Mary Lou Retton was winning Olympic Gold, and Iran-Contra hadn’t even (dis)graced a single television set. You could proudly look at the red, white, and blue, and imagine how sad it must be to live in any other nation. You could feel it when you chanted U-S-A! U-S-A!
Our innocent minds were unburdened by knowledge of corruption and how things really work. We were taught the very fundamentals of what our country is, and with that idealism we created a magical place, a place where people were truly free, shared the land as brothers, and were ?better? than every other country on this planet.
Perhaps it was just naivety, but, I don’t think so. I’d say it’s a result of being taught the core principles of our governance by the school system ? those of equality, justice, and fairness. I remember learning about the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence at a very young age. I remember feeling a sense of security in knowing ?all men are created equal? and I was proud of the diversity within our land.
The seven-year-old version of me would have never thought torture would become excusable to the citizens and elected leaders of the United States of America. The adult version of me can’t believe it either.
The Guardian provides more details about these ?enhanced interrogation tactics? in an article titled, Rectal rehydration and standing on broken limbs: the CIA torture report’s grisliest findings.
?Detainees were forced to stand on broken limbs for hours, kept in complete darkness, deprived of sleep for up to 180 hours, sometimes standing, sometimes with their arms shackled above their heads.
Prisoners were subjected to ?rectal feeding? without medical necessity. Rectal exams were conducted with ?excessive force?. The report highlights one prisoner later diagnosed with anal fissures, chronic hemorrhoids and ?symptomatic rectal prolapse??.
Rectal feedings? Yes, they are exactly what you are thinking.
?Majid Khan’s ?lunch tray? of hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts, and raisins was ?pureed? and rectally infused.?
In 2002 the CIA opened a detention center known as Cobalt. The chief of interrogations described Cobalt as ?a dungeon?. Detainees at this prison were ?kept in complete darkness and constantly shackled in isolated cells with loud music and only a bucket to use for human waste?.
The Guardian article continues:
?Prisoners were walked around naked or were shackled with their hands above their heads for extended periods of time. About five CIA officers would engage in what is described as a ?rough takedown?. A detainee would be shouted at, have his clothes cut off, be secured with tape, hooded and dragged up and down a long corridor while being slapped and punched.?
Other accounts tell of a prisoner ?chained to a wall in a standing position for 17 days?. This is reminiscent of the image that many of us saw in 2006 of the detainee that was chained to the ceiling, wearing a diaper, and forced to defecate on himself. It is reported that he spent over 44 hours out of a 48-hour period in that position. Sleep deprivation was also employed. The detainee was kept awake for up to 180 hours, while standing or in other stress positions.
This is a slap in the face to every soldier that fought and died for this country. We are supposed to be better than this. We are supposed to be that shining beacon of my seven-year-old mind.
Nearly as disturbing as the actions themselves are the Americans that condone these atrocities. How? How could one possibly believe that the ?land of the free? should be torturing people? How is this in keeping with our most basic beliefs as a nation? Joe Walsh apparently thinks it is.
Look, quit navel gazing on this CIA torture report. Yea we engage in torture. Good. Big deal. Now go focus on defeating the Islamic enemy.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) December 9, 2014
The Raw Story published an article, Former Rep. Joe Walsh applauds torture: Rectal feeding is ?job description? of an ?American hero?
Clearly, he doesn’t quite get the fact that if we join our enemy in such a sadistic means of warfare, it negates everything we stand for.
The icing on the cake?
- The CIA didn’t have enough information to legally detain many of the prisoners in these prisons.
- Much of the information obtained is unreliable because, YOU CAN’T GET ACCURATE INFORMATION OUT OF A PERSON THAT IS BEING TORTURED!
People needlessly suffered and died at the hands of the United States of America. Their blood is on all of our hands and it will not wash away easily.
Let us know your thoughts at the?Liberal America?Facebook page. Sign up for our?free daily newsletter?to receive more great stories like this one.
Elizabeth Preston is a thirty-something wife and mother of three living in Florida. She is a fierce liberal with a passion?for equality and justice. She is a skeptic by nature and often the Facebook friend that rains on the urban legend parade with fact checking. Give her?Facebook page?a?like, follow her on?Twitter?and check out her personal blog,?My Four Ha? Pennies.
