Torture Techniques Revealed at Gitmo

[Lemur]

Strict definitions are needed on what techniques we use for many reasons. First its as any good legal code it outlines matters in a fairly unambiguous fashion so that operating within and under that legal code can be done with appropriate jurisdiction for public review.

I hate to re-post, but there is already a Federal definition of torture:

18 U.S. Code § 2340 (Definitions):

As used in this chapter— (1) 'torture' means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control;

(2) 'severe mental pain or suffering' means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from— (A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (C) the threat of imminent death; or (D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality; and

(3) 'United States' means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States.

Not the exact thing you're talking about, namely, a law that describes which techniques are allowable with which enemy combatants, but still, it's not as though the law has been silent on the subject.

Not to mention the need for independant oversight, answerable to civilian authority, of the actual interrogations and this should be in place regardless of whether we "toture" or not.

I am not aware of any meaningful, unified oversight being applied at Bagram Air Base, Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay. It's an entirely in-house operation. In fact, when the F.B.I. was allowed to see what was being done at Gitmo, they filed complaints, which went nowhere.

If our current system isn't out of control, it's not because there's any sort of judicial review.