... and on a lighter note.

Last night in class we watched the documentary Taxi to the Dark Side. It's the story of an Afghan taxi driver who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was picked up during a sweep, as were his two passengers, and instantly detained without charge. He was effectively tortured for weeks in Baghram until he eventually died from extensive tissue damage in his legs. The guards say they would knee prisoners in the thigh when they were combative. Admittedly, the MP's say that the taxi driver spent too much time crying and praying and it was annoying them. It turns out he had no connections to any known terrorist or terrorist attack. He just had some bad luck.

Since 9/11, we have detained over 38,000 people... and only a few of them have had charges brought against them or a trial (and not until very recently). It appears that many of them were interrogated using vile tactics. I could go into details about the methods used, but for both of our sakes... I will not.

Watching this movie was not my ideal way of spending my evening and it certainly didn't leave you with much emotional at all, except anger. The thing is, the filmmakers want you to blame the Bush administration. (And DO NOT get me wrong, I do... Ultimately they were the enabling factor in this equation that led to these extensive human rights abuses.) The thing is, we have to look beyond the administration and ask ourselves a question... How did we get to this point? How did we let this happen? Our government is a response to us. Ultimately, we hold responsibility for what happens.

I used to be a huge 24 fan. I mean, honestly I still watch it... just not the with adamant fervor I once did. I realized one day that the fact that Jack Bauer could get me cheering for him to pull someone's finger nail off, really disturbed me. Media does a good job of desensitizing us in many ways, this is not the least of them.

In Taxi to the Dark Side, they interviewed some interrogators who had been prosecuted for Abu Ghraib. All of them stated that they had not received proper training and were really unaware of what was expected of them, except one thing: get the information. They called the detainees PUC's (prisoners under custody) and readily admitted they went to great lengths to dehumanize them. They didn't have names, they had numbers.

I know I might have a radical view, but I believe that every human begin is born with basic human dignity, that has rights. Human rights, as they exist today in international law, are actually based on scripture! It doesn't matter whether they speak your language, have your skin color or religion. It doesn't matter if they are poor or are dressed funny... they are just as human as you are and they should be treated as such.

We all know by now that information collected through torture is unreliable and invalid in a court of law. We all know that it's illegal and we all know that its 'wrong'... but a large percentage of Americans seem to believe that circumstances exist where those rule smuts be broken and something must be done. I mean, just ask FOX... their ratings are through the roof. Is media to blame? Does media change perception or reflect perception? Should I feel guilty for enjoying TV for it's entertainment value? Should we demand a better standard form our television?


I don't know... What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Well, statistics show us that the % of Americans who think that circumstances exist where torture is necessary has increased dramatically in the past decade. The question is whether that has anything to do with media, or with the actual state of the world and the events of 2001 and the war on terror.

Anyway, I can't offer any answers. In fact, I don't even know that I will stop watching 24, but I hope that at the very least, I will not be rooting for Jack when he decides to take an interrogation too far. At least, not any more...