Torture

I've heard lately there's been controversy over the Bin Laden assassination film Zero Dark Thirty. Apparently it depicts that information obtained from torture was used to find Bin Laden. What a crock. I never watched the TV show 24 for this reason, because it glorifies torture and makes it seem like a necessary evil to keep the world (read America) safe. Bullshit. Torturing our enemies only makes us self-righteous hypocrites for pretending that we're so noble and good. It also makes our enemies feel justified in hating and attacking us. And torture doesn't yield true or useful information; it only gives the quickest lie to make the pain stop. (One of the things I used to like the most about early Burn Notice was Michael Westen saying this about torture.)

Well, there's a little good news on this subject, at least. A defense contractor is paying a $5 million settlement to Iraqis who were abused and tortured at Abu Ghraib. I hope there will be similar settlements with other contractors in the future.

If only all the detainees at Guantanamo Bay could be released too, and the place closed down, but there's been no movement on that front for a long time now. To me, these wars will never really be over until these places close down.