Torture Works. Just Ask U.S. POWs from the Korean War

An August 29 Washington Post article entitled “How a Detainee Became an Asset” details how the CIA’s “harsh interrogation techniques” caused Khalid Sheik Mohammed to become a CIA “asset,” meaning that he sung like a canary, confessed his crimes, disclosed everything he knew, and cooperated with the CIA.

Well, there you have it. Torture really does work, probably even on the innocent. It converts terrorists and potential terrorists into allies and it saves lives. Hail torture!

But why stop at isolation, sensory deprivation, forced standing, waterboarding, walling, beating, and sex abuse? Why not the rack? Why not electricity on the genitals?

Here — take a look at some really good methods of torture that are depicted in the Medieval Torture Museum in San Gimignano, Italy. Why not utilize the Wake of Juda’s Cradle? Why not the Virgin of Nuremberg? I’ll bet those methods of torture garnered plenty of cooperation from their victims.

The reason that U.S. officials haven’t used those old methods of torture is because a few decades ago they learned the benefits of what might be called “touchless torture.” The beauty of touchless torture is that it doesn’t leave any physical scars on the victim but yet is just as effective as physical torture in securing confessions and cooperation. Touchless torture enables the torturers to say, “He’s lying! We haven’t tortured him at all. Who are you going to believe — a terrorist or your loyal, devoted, patriotic, flag-waving CIA agent or U.S. soldier?” More

PHR Analysis: CIA Health Professionals’ Role in Torture Worse Than Previously Known

• Mock executions;
• Brandishing guns and power drills;
• Threats to sexually assault family members and murder children;
• "Walling" — repeatedly slamming an unresponsive detainee's head against a cell wall; and
• Confinement in a box.

Olbermann and Scahill on Cheney and Torture