United States: Equal Opportunity Torture

The case of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani woman who was likely tortured in U.S. custody, underscores the depravity of the current defects in our approach to intelligence gathering. Even the best intentioned of torturers should be educated about the value of information obtained through such methods. A victim of torture will tell his torturers anything they want to hear, eventually, but rarely tell the truth. They are merely desperate to make their suffering end.

We've tortured kids. Now it seems we've tortured women as well. Not only that, but the U.S. has denied ever having her in custody before last month. That claim has been vigorously disputed. Credible claims have been made that she has been in custody for years.

Look at the picture of her taken last month.


Tell me she wasn't horribly abused. The released photograph is interesting in itself. Why would such a photo be released? It was probably to make Aafia look bad. That's not how it comes across, however. She looks traumatized, and she probably was.