GOP and College: A Letter To The Oracle

Thursday, April 19, 2007

A Letter To The Oracle

I wrote this letter to The Oracle, Tennessee Tech's newspaper, after one of their editor's tried to preach about "Bush's double standard on Human Rights."

In the April 13th edition of The Oracle, Mackenzie Nellis describes the “Double standard” of President Bush asking for the release of the British soldiers who were captured by Iran, and the “torture” and the “violations of Human Rights” that occurs at Guantanamo Bay. It seems people like Nellis prefer to take the word of reports on “abuses“ at Gitmo from people who have never been there (like the one the U.N. trumpeted in Feb. 2006), as opposed to reporters who have actually been there. I quote;
“The high-minded critics who complain about torture are wrong. We are far too soft on these guys - and, as a result, aren't getting the valuable intelligence we need to save American lives. The politically correct regulations are unbelievable. Detainees are entitled to a full eight hours sleep and can't be woken up for interrogations. They enjoy three meals and five prayers per day, without interruption. They are entitled to a minimum of two hours of outdoor recreation per day. Interrogations are limited to four hours, usually running two - and (of course) are interrupted for prayers. One interrogator actually bakes cookies for detainees, while another serves them Subway or McDonald's sandwiches. Both are available on base. (Filet o' Fish is an al Qaeda favorite.)” This is just a piece from Richard Miniter’s article entitled “A Deadly Kindness.” Look it up.

The other topic is the so called “torture” that goes on at Gitmo. Nellis says that the treatment is “too atrocious to mention in this publication.” I wonder if they are worse than a taste of the tales from Orson Swindle, a former Vietnam POW.
"They took the cord and cinched it so tightly above my elbows that it literally caused my hands to contract because of the pressure on the ligaments," he said. And that was only the beginning. Next they tied his arms behind his back with three men applying pressure on each side. "(They) pulled against each other until my arms, they folded them up my back and my hands went back to my neck," he said. Next the torturers wrapped cord around his body so it looked like he had no arms. They tied parachute cord around his thumbs, which were at the back of his head, and hoisted his body off the ground by throwing the cord over the rafters. Swindle said the technique pulled his shoulders out of socket.”

Or how about the torture that Saddam committed on his own people?
“Beatings, rape, breaking of limbs, and denial of food and water are commonplace in Iraqi detention centers. Saddam Hussein's regime has also invented unique and horrific methods of torture including electric shocks to a male's genitals, pulling out fingernails, suspending individuals from rotating ceiling fans, dripping acid on a victim's skin, gouging out eyes, and burning victims with a hot iron or blowtorch.”

Those are real methods of torture. Grow some skin and get a perspective of what real torture is, then you can try to preach about “Double Standards.”