{"id":3986,"date":"2010-04-06T11:00:07","date_gmt":"2010-04-06T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/?p=3986"},"modified":"2010-04-06T21:03:42","modified_gmt":"2010-04-07T01:03:42","slug":"from-the-experience-from-wartime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2010\/04\/06\/from-the-experience-from-wartime\/","title":{"rendered":"from the experience in wartime…"},"content":{"rendered":"
In my last post [day after day…<\/a><\/strong>], I was talking about the "enhanced interrogation techniques" approved in the Yoo\/Bybee Memo from the OLC in 2002<\/strong><\/a>. While most of us reading it are put off from closely reading the document because it’s clearly a rationalization to make  obvious torture techniques look like something else, there are a few things about it that deserve our more focused attention.  It ignores the real meaning of a particular phrase in the statute it purports to explain <\/div>\n

The statute of the US Code that governs torture actually seems well written to me: "… an act … specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon another person<\/font><\/em><\/strong>." It goes on to define "severe mental pain or suffering<\/font><\/em><\/strong>" as "prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from<\/font><\/strong><\/em>" [among other things] "procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality<\/font><\/strong><\/em>."<\/p>\n

It might as well have said that torture is any procedure that is calculated to traumatize the subject resulting in persistent symptoms in the form of a post-traumatic stress disorder [P.T.S.D.]. That’s all P.T.S.D. means – enduring adverse symptoms resulting from some event.<\/div>\n
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TITLE 18 § 2340<\/a>. Definitions<\/strong><\/div>\n
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As used in this chapter — <\/div>\n
[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;<\/div>\n
[2] “severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from — <\/div>\n