Official Film Trailers
torture
Pronunciation[tawr-cher] noun, verb, -tured, -tur⋅ing.–noto 1. the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty. 2. a method of inflicting such pain. 3. Often, tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone. 4. extreme anguish of body or mind; agony. 5. a cause of severe pain or anguish.
humiliation
1. state of disgrace or loss of self-respect
disgrace, ignominy, shame - a state of dishonor; "one mistake brought shame to all his family"; "suffered the ignominy of being sent to prison"
abasement, abjection, degradation - a low or downcast state; "each confession brought her into an attitude of abasement"- H.L.Menchken
Geneva Conventions
“
Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity. Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in particular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent assault. Without prejudice to the provisions relating to their state of health, age and sex, all protected persons shall be treated with the same consideration by the Party to the conflict in whose power they are, without any adverse distinction based, in particular, on race, religion or political opinion. However, the Parties to the conflict may take such measures of control and security in regard to protected persons as may be necessary as a result of the war. ”
—- Article 27, Fourth Geneva Convention
Taxi to the Dark Side is a 2007 documentary film directed by American filmmaker Alex Gibney and winner of the 2007 Oscar for Best Documentary. The film is centered around a young Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar who picked up three passengers one day and never returned home. He wound up dead at Bagram Air Base, killed by injuries inflicted by U.S. soldiers. No one knows why he was detained.
Before there was Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo there was Bagram. Bagram was the origin for the Cheney, Rumsfeld and top on down system of torture put in place after the Bush Doctrine was set into motion. The film is put together via interviews, news footage and firsthand reports and it provides a look at the case for Dilawar and other innocent victims of the abuses of torture.
The drawing shown above was a very rudimentary drawing by the guard/soldier who found Dilawar hanging, handcuffed to the steel grate ceiling of his cell, dead. Dilawar's legs were beaten so severely that they were in the words of the coroner, "pulpified" from repeated beatings by the guards/soldiers. Dilawar died from an aggravation to a coronary heart condition he had and the extreme contusions to his legs sent an embolism to his heart, killing him as he hung by his wrists.
The movie shows the gamut of physical torture and psychological sensory deprivation used widely, not only by the C.I.A. but by untrained miliarty personnel who were intentionally given very vague and broad orders on how to elicit information from the detainees. The chief of prisoner detainee interrogation at Bagram, Captain Carolyn Wood was actually awarded the Bronze Star for her performance. That led to her ultimate orders to head up the newest detainee facility, Abu Ghraib. This would send American treatment of Afghan and Iraqi detainees into a downward spiral.
sensory deprivation- A form of psychological torture inflicted by depriving the victim of all sensory input
It is shown in the film that lawyers like John Yoo and Alberto Gonzalez manipulated the rules of The Geneva Conventions to begin to write briefs on all of the various different ways to torture a prisoner, but very broadly and when it's constantly changed, harder to deem as torture. The detainees are shackled, they have their hearing impaired by thick ear muffs and their heads covered by dark bags. This sensory deprivation was tested in the early 60's at length for the C.I.A. and was deemed to be more effective as a way to get around prisoners who have been trained to endure physical torture.
This was implemented via the C.I.A.'s 1963 KUBARK Manual on Sensory Deprivation. Prisoners were routinely subjected to extremely loud music, screaming and shouting by guards, shackled nude in stress inducing positions much like the one used on Dilawar, that led to his ultimate death at Bagram.
Sensory Deprivation
Water boarding came along a bit later and we are all familiar by now just how torturous it has been proven. The use of sexual humiliation, like shown in the photos from Abu Ghraib and others not shown such as female soldiers/guards whispering in the detainees ears such things as "your mother is a whore" and dressing the detainees in female under garments were implemented to degrade the detainees and their beliefs.
Vicious dogs placed within inches of the detainees barking, growling and at times biting the detainees was another form of fear induced torture after as much as 20 continual hours of physical torture and sleep sensory deprivation. Very often the detainees were kept completely naked around the dogs and female guards/soldiers to further their humiliation and degradation.
Abu Ghraib - sexual humiliation and dogs
Waterboarding
(Barbaric in its origins. Common place throughout this war.)
Taxi to the Dark Side was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist in November 2007. On February 24, 2008, in his acceptance speech for the "Best Documentary Feature" Academy Award, Alex Gibney said:
“This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, the young Afghan taxi driver, and my father, a navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury about what was being done to the rule of law. Let’s hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and back to the light.
Taxi to the Dark Side appeared on most critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Premiere magazine named it the fifth best film of 2008, and Bill White of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer named it the seventh best film of 2008. The film is also scored 100% for critic approval, out of 80 reviews, on Rotten Tomatoes, and is the third highest-rated film in the website's history. - Wikipedia
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I had not watched this film in some time and decided to view it again last night. Upon watching it now, a couple of years after first obtaining it and knowing what new evidence has come out on torture, I was sickened and embarrassed for my country. Do we really want our children raised in a country that breaks from the rules of The Geneva Conventions and common morals and "goes rogue" with our interpretations of civility?
I for one do not and if you have not seen this film, please get a copy of it. It's difficult to watch but it's so well done that the emphasis is on the truth, not as much the depiction of the actual torture and violence. It should be required viewing for high school seniors in American schools. We can't shield ourselves or our children from the wrongs that we have done as a country. We must learn from the mistakes and crimes committed so we don't let history repeat itself.
We do not want to become what our enemy is and we cannot use that as an excuse to stoop so low. It has long been proven that information obtained under dire duress is not reliable. We would have much more success by use of the Stockholm Syndrome with these people than by treating them worse than they've already been treated by their own governments. That only breeds more hatred later down the line and legitimizes the lies they have been told.
Stockholm Syndrome
Stockholm Syndrome describes the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic to their captors. The name derives from a 1973 hostage incident in Stockholm, Sweden. At the end of six days of captivity in a bank, several kidnap victims actually resisted rescue attempts, and afterwards refused to testify against their captors. While some people are suggesting the recent Elizabeth Smart kidnapping sounds like a case of Stockholm Syndrome, the most famous incident in the U.S. involved the kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst. Captured by a radical political group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, Ms. Hearst eventually became an accomplice of the group, taking on an assumed name and assisting them in several bank robberies. After her re-capture, she denounced the group and her involvement.
What causes Stockholm Syndrome? Captives begin to identify with their captors initially as a defensive mechanism, out of fear of violence. Small acts of kindness by the captor are magnified, since finding perspective in a hostage situation is by definition impossible. Rescue attempts are also seen as a threat, since it's likely the captive would be injured during such attempts.
It's important to note that these symptoms occur under tremendous emotional and often physical duress. The behavior is considered a common survival strategy for victims of interpersonal abuse, and has been observed in battered spouses, abused children, prisoners of war, and concentration camp survivors.
(from ask Yahoo)
If you were raised in a country where your own govnerment treats you horribly and you are oppressed and informed that Americans are the infidel, wouldn't you be more likely to give information to a captor that shows you the very opposite? By treating these people in the barbaric way that they truly believe we would, we reinforce the negative, we don't get useful information and we perpetuate the cycle of terror.
Some might say that is exactly what our own government wishes for and I for one am beginning to wonder if they aren't right. This film has nothing at all to do with "right against left" as mentioned in the trailer, but everything to do with "right and wrong."
BOKO
Joan Wilder
Natalie K. Munden
donnastreet
Bill Maher
crystalsapphire
Salon.com
Comments
Roger, it's such a very well made film. The violence in it isn't gut wrenching, just the thought of it is... But it did happen and I'm hopeful that though many of the detainees are still being held that the carnage has ended. I would like to thin that a government with Obama, Biden and Hillary running it would put an end to the torture. The endless detaining is somewhat separate but just as necessary to address. Perhaps they will give The Stockholm Syndrome tactic a try. They could use Bush/Cheney as the heavies and maybe salvage our country some dignity.
I never participated in, or witnessed any torture, and we followed Geneva conventions to the letter. Ours was a good facility.
The Iraqi facilites, on the other hand, were seriously fucked up. (I can't speak for the CIA, as I didn't interact with them.)
We had this guy come in who had been captured at an Iraqi Security checkpoint. His crime? Wrong religious faction at the wrong place and time.
They took this guy and tied his penis off with a cord, then forced him to drink water for hours. By the time we got him he was in very bad condition. Our medical personnel took care of him the best they could, but I'll never forget the feeling I had at the time.
I wanted to go out and find whoever did that and shoot the bastards dead.
I've never agreed with torture, in any form. It's wrong, it's fucked up and it dosen't work.
Oh, we did manage to take in a reporter from Jordan once. Nice guy, spoke better English than our Soldier from Brooklyn. We were not in the position to judge guilt or innocence, we just detained those we were told to detain and let the interrogators and intel folks sort it out.
He told us after his paperwork cleared that he found our facility and personnel to be both professional and efficent, but he hated the MRE's. I guess that wasn't too bad of a review.
Anyway, thanks for posting this, Blue.
Thanks Jimmy! Great to see ya.
Thanks Delia. Watching it at this time just compelled me to write it. It was if I couldn't NOT write about it...People need to see this film. I dare anyone to deem it as "propaganda".
Thanks for reading and commenting Andy. Thanks for the story.
Rated for Truth.
Aye, aye David!!! I would agree. We should make every prisoner in our prisons watch films like this and let them see that comparatively speaking, they are treated like royalty.
That's true Zuma and would make a great post by you if you haven't already and I missed it. You really should.
GG, one of the tactics they used was telling the men that they were going to go find their sons and cut off their testicles. I would not make something like that up. That's abominable.
I will somehow get my hands on this movie. Thanks, Greg. this is so very important.
Thanks for posting this.
R
Great post.
Rated.
Thanks to my peas and carrots brother Michael. What steams me more than anything else, more than ANYTHING, is that Dick and Dubya never served in the real military. They've never been tortured. At least McCain did that much. He actually has a couple of VERY bright spots in this films and quotes that I never saw from the RNC during his campaign. Just shows me how sidetracked they are with dogging the opponent rather than making their man or woman look good.
John, from one movie buff to another and history lovers, this is a must see. Vastly worthy of its Oscar. The research and breadth of interviews was astounding and it's very tastefully done. It is brutal in its truth. The true testament to America as opposed to Iran and Salman Rushdie is that this director wasn't killed for doing it. Yet...
Thanks T. It was a very powerful film wasn't it?!