Saturday, February 17, 2007
except for the ring of that truncheon thing:
And suddenly we're in Chechnya:
Then, shortly before 9 a.m., Mr. Ani said, he was brought to a table for one last step. He was handed a form and asked to place a check mark next to the sentence that best described how he had been treated:

“I didn’t go through any abuse during detention,” read the first option, in Arabic.

“I have gone through abuse during detention,” read the second.

In the room, he said, stood three American guards carrying the type of electric stun devices that Mr. Ani and other detainees said had been used on them for infractions as minor as speaking out of turn.

“Even the translator told me to sign the first answer,” said Mr. Ani, who gave a copy of his form to The New York Times. “I asked him what happens if I sign the second one, and he raised his hands,” as if to say, Who knows?

“I thought if I don’t sign the first one I am not going to get out of this place.”
--Spencer Ackerman
There's also an uncanny similarity to the 1980s Latin America conflicts, with Special Forces training death squads.

The honesty is rather refreshing here--it's called the "Salvador Option."
Blogger aelkus | 9:07 PM