Driven Crazy by Barney- Torture by Any Means

I love this story. Apparently, United States personnel have been using rock music to torture Guantanemo prisoners. The "I Love You" song from Barney is a notorious instrument of this torture, and prisoners often crack within 24 hours of being exposed to that one. Come to think of it, I would crack too, if I had to listen to that drivel. Otherwise, they say loud rock music can bring someone to their knees in short order.(I would disagree and use Woodstock as evidence.) I would have thought that rap music would have the same effect.

The issue of "torture" is interesting. Surely, we agree that jamming bamboo splints under someone's fingernails is torture. Likewise, attaching electrodes to someone's genitals, caning the bottoms of someone's feet, or using your favorite Black and Decker 3/8 inch drill to make holes in someone's anatomy, as Saddam Hussein was wont to do, all constitute torture. However, the reality is that we are engaged in a war of an entirely new type with people who are pledged to an ideology rather than a state, and, even if we invite them over for tea and biscuits, they are not inclined to tell us important information that will protect lives. The terrorists of Mumbai, London, Madrid, New York, and Washington, as well as their handlers and planners, are not inclined to take part in a pleasant sit-down and a discussion of the issues.

It has been reported that the prisoners of Guantanemo have been well fed, supplied with copies of the Koran, and otherwise been well-treated. Loud music, bright lights and sleep deprivation seem more than reasonable to get short term results. Long term intelligence from these people, on the other hand, may require a long term investment in time in order to gain their trust and cooperation.

What is most troubling is that it appears that we do not know who we are holding in Guantanemo. Are these hardened terrorists? Are these people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Are there combatants who are not ideologically committed, but who were picked up because they were engaged in an extension of tribal warfare in either Afghanistan and Iraq?

We have a duty and responsibility to hold people in accordance with our both laws and our international agreements, and not on the basis of executive fiat. The fact that we have been doing the latter taints any possible legitimate activity regarding the imprisonment and interrogation of those held in Guantanemo. I therefore predict that once he takes office, President Obama, a former professor of constitutional law, will demand a complete vetting of those held there, with many subsequently being released, and those who remain will either be charged with crimes related to terrorism or they will held under the provisions of the Geneva Convention as it pertains to combatants.

Torture is against the law. Is Barney?