Hypothetically - *if* we discovered for sure that rape was used in the interrogations...

[Duer 157099]

because the allegations are there -- that there are videos, in particular of children of detainees...

so if such claims were to be validated (like if the videos were released somehow) the question is:

the person doing the raping -- would they be held accountable? Or if they did it under orders, should they not be punished?

[T Wolf]

1. Most here would probably say that it was okey-dokey. Hey - it's nothing more than a fraternity

prank.

Different year - same bullshit.

Torture IS torture,no matter who is doing it or why.

[spanone]

10. 'most here' ?? ...don't think so

[EFerrari]

2. We already know to a certainy these "dedicated men and women"

sodomized prisoners with objects. These "courageous men and women" routinely used sexual humiliation on prisoners -- most of whom at Gitmo anyway, turn out to be innocent people sold to Rumsfeld by the Northern Alliance.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. I don't think that's fair. The Justice Dept. only said that those who worked under the memos

would not be prosecuted. Since the memos said nothing about rape or sodomy, those people are free to be prosecuted.

[EFerrari]

13. I was only responding to the premise in the OP.

I've no stake at all in being unfair, my friend. If we can get to "fair", I'll be the first one to celebrate that! :hi:

ETA: But, to directly address your point: who do you have to be to torture someone because you got a memo? I've known dedicated and courageous people. They would have refused.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. Who knows...

Who knows what kind of people work at the CIA? :(

[EFerrari]

19. Maybe it's because I'm so intimately plugged into Latin America

that I have a pretty good idea. :(

[Duer 157099]

22. Regarding "memos"

If you read carefully what Obama said yesterday, he was very careful to justify why he was releasing these particular memos. To wit, that the information contained therein was already pretty much well known by everyone, at least in general terms, so that he wasn't really releasing anything too provacative. At least that's how I read his words.

First, the interrogation techniques described in these memos have already been widely reported. Second, the previous Administration publicly acknowledged portions of the program – and some of the practices – associated with these memos. Third, I have already ended the techniques described in the memos through an Executive Order. Therefore, withholding these memos would only serve to deny facts that have been in the public domain for some time. This could contribute to an inaccurate accounting of the past, and fuel erroneous and inflammatory assumptions about actions taken by the United States.

So, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that there are other memos that similarly "make legal" the use of other techniques. We just have not seen those yet. I imagine that there are plenty we have yet to see.

[redqueen]

3. Very easy to answer... was it cleared in a DOJ memo?

I can't believe people are being so silly about this issue.

No, wait... I totally can.

[stray cat]

9. Not any memo that has come out yet but since when do people ponder anything

[redqueen]

16. Well some poeple here do think before posting...

not the majority... but some.

[Bluebear]

4. It's time to "move on".

:silly:

[EFerrari]

8. These "dedicated men and women" also told their prisoners that their lawyer was a Jew,

a homosexual, a government spy.

If Bush were still in office, I guess they'd get the same Medal of Freedom George Tenet did!

[madrchsod]

5. they should be but they will not be held accountable or punished

[Echo In Light]

6. The claim came from Sy Hersh some yrs back: contractors did the raping, female soldiers filmed it

..re the child sodomy videos.

[madeline_con]

14. Hersh: Children sodomized at Abu Ghraib, on tape

The War Room
by Alex Koppelman
Thursday, July 15, 2004 12:26 EDT
Hersh: Children sodomized at Abu Ghraib, on tape
After Donald Rumsfeld testified on the Hill about Abu Ghraib in May, there was talk of more photos and video in the Pentagon's custody more horrific than anything made public so far. "If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse," Rumsfeld said. Since then, the Washington Post has disclosed some new details and images of abuse at the prison. But if Seymour Hersh is right, it all gets much worse.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/07/15/hersh/

[Odin2005]

7. They sure as hell better be held accountable.

Anyone who would carry out such orders is by definition a monster.

[peace13]

11. No..because the victim probably asked for it.

Hypothetically... our own Armed Services do nothing about their own male soldiers raping the women soldiers so my guess is that your raper would not be held accountable either. But then you probably knew that. Just so you know I was not serious about the victim asking for it.

[Echo In Light]

17. Yeah, it's pretty ugly. Consider how few care about the levels of prison rape in general

[PearliePoo2]

18. If some contractors were raping children

What does this say about their fundamental psyche???
In order to rape a child, wouldn't there be a physical requirement to be sexually aroused in the first place?
Sexually aroused enough to "enter" a little kid's behind, knowing you were being filmed and watched by others?
If true, there aren't words nor any punishment too severe for these monstrous sick bastards.
WHERE ARE THE VIDEOS WE HEARD ABOUT???

[Bluenorthwest]

20. This is what we all know went on

Rumsfeld said as much. Sick people and those who hold their coats before and after the fact. Monsters. All of them.

[NYCGirl]

21. Rape is a prosecutable crime — there's no question. NT

[Duer 157099]

23. Same with torture

or so we thought.

I guess things are subject to change.