Read some more posts by Juan Cole. His tone is calmer than what I hear coming out of Iraq itself (eg. Riverbend). So that helps me to calm down a bit. And it goes to show how important some first-hand evidence is, too.
But then I followed some links, and ended up on a page with *Al Rawi et al v Titan Corporation et al - Extracts from Complaint* ¹:
The Torture Conspirators tortured and abused Plaintiff Ahmed and his father Ibrahiem by committing the following acts, among others: (a) Removing their clothes and spraying them with cold water during the cold winter; (b) Stripping them of their clothes entirely and then tying their hands and legs together and allowing fierce and hungry dogs to come two inches away from their faces and bark in their faces; (c) Kicking them with their heavy military boots on all parts of their bodies including their heads, backs, private parts, and stomach; (d) Hitting them with guns on their bodies, including their heads, backs, stomach, and private parts; (e) Removing all their clothes and leaving them outside for days; (f) Depriving them of food and keeping them in the cold for such lengths of time as to cause fainting; (g) Lifting their hands above their heads and leaving them standing in that position for days, and beating them whenever they moved or twitched; (h) Leaving them lying on their stomachs naked on the floor with their hands tied above their heads for long hours.
And the list goes on. It is very long. Very very long. I had to stop reading through it after a while. I stopped when I reached this one:
Plaintiff Ahmed was forced to observe the Torture Conspirators torturing his father to such a degree that he died.
There goes the calm serenity I felt when I started reading that Juan Cole page.
Before condoning harsh treatment of prisoners suspected of terrorism, it pays to read through a list such as the one quoted for some example “stress and duress” treatment.
#Iraq