Tortured American Reacts To Rudy's 'Joke' About Sleep Deprivation

Rudy's Torture Talk

By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, November 6, 2007; Page A19

On the playground, lo these many years ago, I was shooting baskets when an older boy ordered me off the court. This was just like the movies, I reasoned, and so I stood my ground and instantly got punched right in the mouth. I went down, and as I did, I remember thinking this was not at all like the movies. It hurt. It really hurt.

The realization that life is not a movie has inexplicably yet to occur to Rudy Giuliani, despite the horrors of Sept. 11. Mistaking something he must have seen in the movies for real life, he mocked the alleged softies who condemn torture of any kind, saying of sleep deprivation, "They talk about sleep deprivation. I mean, on that theory, I'm getting tortured running for president of the United States. That's plain silly."

It's not silly, though, to Orson Swindle. He spent six years and four months as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and was subjected to beatings and sleep deprivation. One time, he went about 20 days without sleep. I asked him if he considered it torture.

"Oh, yes."

Swindle's account of his sleep deprivation lacks precision. Some of the time he was hallucinating, and so he relied on the reports of others to determine how long he was forced to stay awake. His jailers wanted him to write a propaganda letter to Sen. Edward Kennedy. Ultimately, Swindle did. In the end, people being tortured usually give their jailers what they want -- the truth, a lie, something in between. Torture can be an unreliable interrogation tool.

But in the chest-beating contest that has become the GOP presidential race, neither the efficacy of torture nor the damage it has done to America's public image is questioned much. Along with Giuliani, both Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney think that only the excessively squeamish are appalled by waterboarding or the exceedingly bad rep of the Guantanamo Bay prison. They want Gitmo kept open -- more Bush than the Bushies, in this case: The administration is looking to close it.

Romney bases his approval of Guantanamo on a visit there. Despite having a very keen eye, he noticed no torture and so he has endorsed the facility. As for Thompson and Giuliani, they have not been to Guantanamo, but they, too, know the prison is needed. For some reason, they can't imagine transferring the detainees to the American prison system, which is what the Bush administration appears to be considering, and where some very bad people are now being held. What much of the world thinks about Guantanamo -- near-universal condemnation pretty much sums it up -- does not concern these presidential candidates.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/05/AR2007110501595.html

We must stop the war crimes and hold our war criminal executive accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Otherwise, excellent piece.

Not to get the truth at all, but to manufacture what you want out of a situation.

For such a sad state, it's more of a... dark bulb... but thanks. It makes a lot more sense looking at it that way.

His ego is starting to pop right out of the top of his head....and that dingbat wife of his is the perfect accessory for the "upwardly mobile" dimwit.