Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to Of course it does

"Torture" has a vague definition

IMO, those prisoner abuse photos aren't showing torture. Read the accounts of the prisoners of the Nazis (especially the Gestapo) and Japanese in WWII, the Koreans in that war, or the POWs held by the North Vietnamese and you'll find accounts of physical torture that'll turn your stomach. What I see in those prison photos is rampant, ignorant, and no doubt illegal abuse, but not torture, at least not as I think of it based on the accounts from earlier wars. People were not being hung from their wrists (behind their back) as happened in those earlier wars. People weren't having their bones broken, weren't being starved, weren't being beaten, werent' having their fingernails ripped out.

Perhaps in the Muslim culture, being kept naked in captivity, especially by women, can be considered torture. That might be an application of psychological warfare. The question as to whether that was ordered (and by whom) or if it was done by a handful of misfits (several of them are prison guards in the civilian world). As of right now, I don't think any of us know if the abuse was ordered. It might possibly have been a "Lord of the Flies" situation. If so, that still represents a failure of leadership by the officers responsible for running the prisons. Whether or not that would constitute a court marshall offense or simply destroy their career remains to be seen. I have no doubt that they will suffer some consequences.

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