Dahlia Lithwick of Slate breaks down exactly what this detainee rights bill means. Her piece is two days old but still worth reading, as the bill has now passed.
Lithwick also makes an interesting point in this piece. The infamous Abu Ghraib photos, she claims, did not shock the nation’s conscience; perversely, they softened up public perceptions and made torture “normal.”
David Corn has posted pictures of an actual waterboard. From where? The former Tuol Sleng Prison in Cambodia, now a memorial to victims of Khmer Rouge atrocities.
A reader points out that Sen. Arlen Specter, after thundering against the detainee bill, turned around and voted for it. According to this NY Times piece it’s known as a “jail break,” “an outcome where lawmakers criticize a bill and support proposed changes but then support it at the end.”
Joe Lieberman voted for it too.
[Update: David Horowitz’s rabid-right FrontPage has published “The Case for Waterboarding” by Vasko Kohlmayer, who refers to the practice as “humane.”]
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