Extraordinary Rendition

I stumbled across this September, 2006 blog post from David Corn today while doing some research on "extraordinary rendition" (or torture when such practices are applied to John McCain). The pictures pretty much speak for themselves - what an ugly, inhuman, barbaric way to treat another human being.

Corn's analysis is dead-on; namely, the purpose of torture is not necessarily to extract critical information from prisoners. Rather, torture is administered in order to coerce prisoner confessions.

We're constantly being told by the media and the Bush Administration that "extraordinary rendition" is a necessary tactic in fighting the War on Terror, but where's the proof that any of these techniques actually save lives? I think Jonah Blank says it best when he describes his photos as follows:

Bottom line: Not only do waterboarding and the other types of torture currently being debated put us in company with the most vile regimes of the past half-century; they're also designed specifically to generate a (usually false) confession, not to obtain genuinely actionable intel. This isn't a matter of sacrificing moral values to keep us safe; it's sacrificing moral values for no purpose whatsoever.

Today, the United States has captured over 80,000 "suspects" in fighting the War on Terror, with upwards of 14,000 people subjected to torture. From prison ships to CIA-run secret "black bases" the United States' steadfast commitment to de-humanizing the people we desire to conquer remains intact. With the world's largest prison population and a seemingly insatiable appetite for war and destruction, is it any wonder the United States is willing to sacrifice moral values for no purpose whatsoever?