Torture is so yesterday’s news

Robert Fisk, during a tour of the United States, notices the inability of the media to call torture by its real name and deluded establishment figure “prevailing” in Iraq:

“It’s like living in a prism in New York and Washington these days. “Torture” is out. No one tortures in Iraq or Afghanistan or Guantanamo. What Americans do to their prisoners is “abuse” and there was a wonderful moment this week when Amy Goodman, who is every leftist’s dream, showed a clip from Pontecorvo’s wonderful 1965 movie The Battle of Algiers on her Democracy Now programme. ‘Colonel Mathieu’ – the film is semi-fictional – was shown explaining why torture was necessary to safeguard French lives. Then up popped Mr Bush’s real spokesman, Scott McClellan, to say that while he would not discuss interrogation methods, the primary aim of the administration was to safeguard American lives.”

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