Posted by
Andrews on Saturday, January 19, 2008 7:51:53 PM
I was reading various chat boards and came across
this gem (WARNING: The language is a bit crude, and may offend some.). In the description of supposed "torture" at Guantanamo, I found the following:
Among the practices introduced
and used were waterboarding, hypothermia, long-time
standing, sleep deprivation in excess of two days and the
use of psychotropic drugs—each of which constitutes
torture under American law and under international
standards.
Now, I have to ask "sleep deprivation" is
TORTURE? Come now! I worked for a company once that kept me up for 96 hours during a crisis. I may have griped a bit, but I can hardly call that torture. Nor was it torture when my heater broke one winter and my wife and I had to sit in the cold. And as far as "sleep deprivation in excess of two days" along with "psychotropic drugs" is concerned, I called that
COLLEGE.
I may be alone in my view, but none of this is anywhere near torture. When the Gestapo strapped people to chairs and beat them,
THAT was torture. Pulling our fingernails,
THAT was torture. Strappado*,
THAT was torture. Abacination*,
THAT was torture. The rack, the iron maiden, flagellation,
THOSE were torture.
Have we really become so over-civilized and wimpy that we call any form of discomfort torture if applied by the government?
I just can't agree. If we are dealing with hostile terrorists, who aren't even fighting a lawful war, I am more than willing to let them suffer some discomfort in order to prevent future attacks. And when the worst that the ACLU and their fellow travelers can come up with is less horrifying than most university hazings, I have trouble shedding a tear for these "victims".
Sorry, but when I hear these "horror" stories about torture, and could easily picture undergoing the same without even a slight shudder, I just can't get upset.
And it amazes me that people can use such weak arguments as their rallying cry to depose the "criminal Bush gang".
Then again, with such pathetic charges being the best they can muster, I have little fear that the Democrats, and especially their far left wing, will be seizing office any time soon.
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* Strappado was a process wherein a victim's hands were tied behind his back, then attached to a rope and pulley, the rope was raised, placing pressure on the arm sockets. In some variants the torturer would tackle the victim's legs, possibly dislocating one or both arms.
** Abacination was blinding by applying a metal bowl fitted with two spikes, heated red-hot to burn the eyes out of the sockets.