Slims

Ok, I don't recall reading anything which authorized fake executions.

Second, "Mental Anguish" is torture? Really?

Sleep deprivation not to exceed 48 hours isn't torture or college students cramming for a test wouldn't do it on a regular basis.

They are not slamming heads into a wall.

Sensory Deprivation is torture? I guess we should make sure they have HBO.

The food deprivation consisted of a tasteless but nutritionally complete liquid diet, not starvation.

It is my understanding that our government is only required to look out for the most basic needs of a detainee...he doesn't have to like the food he is given, it doesn't have to be on a regular schedule, he can be uncomfortable so long as he is not harmed. Those memos lay out exactly how far the CIA was able to go before they stepped over that line.

I know what you are saying about the mental state of the detainee...If the Afghans roll someone up and then rape him over and over again for a week before giving him to you then yeah, he is probably not going to be very usefull. But if you make someone drink a protein shake instead of eat a stake dinner I doubt he is going to be mentally 'broken' and useless. Also, if you administer corrections and whatnot willy-nilly and don't reward good behavior/punish bad, etc. then you make someone who is simply traumatized rather than cooperative. Also, the memo's require a psychologist to be present during all such interrogations to monitor and ensure that the methods are productive rather than counterproductive....Sounds to me like they were already addressing the issue you are worried about.



Edit: last thing. I was not implying that you were not free to discuss the issue. But rather that you were drawing conclusions you knew nothing about. Saying an interrogation method is ineffective when you don't even know how the method is employed is silly. It's like saying fast cars always kill people because you read about a NASCAR wreck. What I was saying about the information is that you would only have heard about the failures...there is no reason to keep that a secret. The people who rolled over as a result of these tactics and are giving good information would not be mentioned, even at the expense of making the method look like a failure. So even if the program were wildly successful beyond anyones imagination, the few people who did not provide information would be all the public is likely to ever learn about.

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"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence