RE: [Marxism] WP Obtains 1,000 More Images

["David McDonald" <dbmcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's a Torture Empire. Abuse doesn't touch it. Abuse, both the verb and
the noun, have as their first sense a linguistic slant, as in to shout
at for no good reason, and abuse carries with it the sense of
inappropriate use: ab + use. Torture comes from the Latin root twist and
is related to the English word torque. Torture is not misuse of
something for another goal, a straying from the path. It is its own
path. It is the infliction of pain, either physical or mental, to
satisfy the sadistic impulses of the torturer. People who think torture
is about information are kidding themselves. It is about the detruction
of the personality and the power of the torturer. Insofar as it has a
purpose, public torture is cautionary.

Clearly one purpose of the Abu Ghraib pictures is cautionary. Surrender
your will or you will get this treatment. But is is never enough to get
people to surrender their will, because what is given can be taken back.
Torture is about the destruction of the will, the extirpation of the
will. That is the point of "breaking" someone. Orwell got this. Nobody
gave a damn about what Winston Smith knew. What is the point of
torturing an animal? To extract information?

And what was Bush up to with that bizarre statement on Arab TV? A
non-apology combined with a lecture on democracy from the
Torturer-in-Chief. That'll help.

David McDonald

-----Original Message-----
From: marxism-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:marxism-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of www.leninology.
blogspot.com
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 4:41 AM
To: marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Marxism] WP Obtains 1,000 More Images



leninology, in reply to Yoshie:

Not trying to be funny or prissy, but I think the use of the term
"embarrassing" somewhat unfortunate in this context.  I recall David
Aaronovitch, (UK pro-war liberal) describing the British Empire as being
" a
bit like a staid aunt getting drunk and making fart jokes on New Year's
Eve."


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