Was Not Intended as an Instruction Manual

[4thofeleven]

"You [the CIA] would like to place Zubaydah in a cramped confinement box with an insect. You have informed us [the Department of Justice] that he appears to have a fear of insects. In particular, you would like to tell Zubaydah that you intend to place a stinging insect into the box with him. You would, however, place a harmless insect in the box. You have orally informed us that you would in fact place a harmless insect such as a catapiller in the box with him."
  - TIME, 'Bush Torture Memo Approved Use of Insects'


"'You asked me once,' said O'Brien, 'what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.'...
...'The worst thing in the world,' said O'Brien, 'varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths. There are cases where it is some quite trivial thing, not even fatal.'...

 ...'In your case,' said O'Brien, 'the worst thing in the world happens to be rats.'"

  - George Orwell, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'
 

Comments

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Well sure, but that's the heroic freedom fighter holding out against the evil empire; totally different situation to the cowardly terrorist spilling their guts to the hard man who was willing to make the hard decisions...

Hell, even the Spanish Inquisition knew torture wasn't useful for anything other than extracting confessions.

[sunnyskywalker]

As if most Americans even know more about the Spanish Inquisition other than the name... sigh. (One of my favorite quotes from a professor ever: "I don't want to hear it - EVERYONE expected the Spanish Inquisition!") I think people are starting to see 24 as getting a bit ridiculous, but only because you can only blow up LA and have Our Hero be misunderstood and on the run so many times before it gets silly. It was pretty popular for a while, though. I am going to enjoy pointing out that Star Wars is more realistic XD

Though that's true about the TV dichotomy of good guys never break/bad guys are always cowards who do. SW has Nemoidians, so I guess they're equal there.

Except that there's Not!Traitor Lando, who sells out Han for reasons having nothing to do with courage or lack of it (we know he's got enough courage to contradict Vader and bargain for Leia's and Chewie's lives, then rebel against the Empire while they're still in the city). No torture, technically, but there is the threat of hurting lots of people he cares about. So I think SW still wins in the realism department.