Saturday, June 9, 2007

Black Holes

When the CIA decided to "enhance" their interrogation techniques, they turned to the Soviet-era KGB for inspiration. When they needed locations for the secret detention centers where the techniques would be put to use, they turned to Soviet-era prisons in Poland and Romania. Coincidence?

Well, then, consider how Abu Ghraib has become a symbol of both Saddam Hussein's cruelty and America's. Or how Guantanamo has become an American miniature of Fidel Castro's island prison.

There's no better proof that what goes on in these places is un-American than the fact that under no circumstances could they be located in America. Not because a free society can't produce men and women willing to torture. But because a free society serves as a constant reminder that torture and liberty are incompatible.

It's no coincidence that our American torturers work out of lingering monuments to totalitarian cruelty. It's the only way to keep them isolated from anything that might jog their memories and their consciences.

Posted by Judah in:  Global War On Terror   Human Rights   

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