There goes yet another reason for invading Iraq. The torture angle was always weak because if that was a reason for going in, the US would have to add quite a few other countries to that list, including itself in the GOP control era. Who could even imagine that the US Congress would actually be sitting around and debating how much torture is good policy? I must have missed that part in the Bible that talks about the Christian benefits of torture. I must have missed the Jefferson quote about how democracy thrives with a bit of waterboarding. Look at the mess the Republicans have created both for Iraq and for America.
Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture, made the remarks as he was presenting a report on detainee conditions at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay as well as to brief the U.N. Human Rights Council, the global body's top rights watchdog, on torture worldwide.Reports from Iraq indicate that torture "is totally out of hand," he said. "The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein."
Nowak added, "That means something, because the torture methods applied under Saddam Hussein were the worst you could imagine."
Some allegations of torture were undoubtedly credible, with government forces among the perpetrators, he said, citing "very serious allegations of torture within the official Iraqi detention centers."
"You have terrorist groups, you have the military, you have police, you have these militias. There are so many people who are actually abducted, seriously tortured and finally killed," Nowak told reporters at the U.N.'s European headquarters.
"It's not just torture by the government. There are much more brutal methods of torture you'll find by private militias," he said.
