Where did we learn to torture?

I posted this comment on Digby's site in response to his summarizing Jane Mayer's article in a recent NEW YORKER MAGAZINE:


Several years ago, I researched a novel for the sake of telling the story of the Isreal-Palestine conflict. I became aware the Israelis systematically tortured Palestinians who they arrested as "terrorists."

After reading Sy Hersch's first article on Abu Graib, it became obvious to me that even the tactics used by Sgt. Graner and company were taken out of the Israeli torture playbook which the British identified as "M-12."

Where I got those conclusions, I cannot any longer tell you.

All I can say is that I had the impression that the minute 9/11 happened and this Administration needed a way to interrogate any suspects, I had the feeling they called in Idraeli experts and began to use the same techniques which the Israelis said were effective on Muslims.

This is opinion because I cannot trace back my sources. But I'm sure our torture has been intentionally sophisticated at least since 9/11 and not the result of cruelty by "a few bad apples."

Kudos to New Yorker and its writers for keeping this issue before us.

And God preserve us from the world's wrath, though we do not deserve God's grace, for policies like keeping prisoners incarcerated so they cannot report how they were treated.