The New York Times reports that the Afghan intelligence service and Afghan national police routinely torture detainees; beating them with cables and twisting their genitals until they pass out. The Times report is based on interviews over the past year with more than 300 suspects linked to the insurgency. The Times report does not assess whether US officials knew of these activities. But, as noted by reporter Alissa J. Rubin, “such widespread torture in a detention system supported by US mentors and money raises serious questions about potential complicity of US officials and whether they benefited from information obtained from suspects who had been tortured.”
Washington officials condemned the actions, bemoaning the cultural complexities of the region.
Many of them are hypocrites.
It is galling to listen to US public officials condemn the Afghan government for allowing the torture of detainees. Many of these US officials are the same people who supported Dick Cheney’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques”. Others, who didn’t openly support the policy, turned a blind eye to the CIA’s violation of the Geneva Accords. The last time we checked not one person has been prosecuted for violating US and international laws.
Why is it ok for the US to water board a detainee, but taboo for Afghan agents to twist the genitals of a detainee until he loses consciousness?
Apparently the US foreign policy on torture is “Do as I say, not as I do.”
“As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”
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