I just watched
"Das Experiment", directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. (Here's an
English Amazon link.)
It is a film based on both the Stanford Prison Experiment, which was conducted using student subjects.
The film is about an experiment on 20 human subjects. 8 are instructed to be prison guards, the remaining 12 are their prisoners. Very little guidance is given to the guards and they become increasingly sadistic in a very short period of time (a few days). Astonishingly, the film contains images that are remarkably similar to the photos we have seen from Abu Ghraib.
The Stanford experiment was conducted in the early 1970s. The film was made in 2000. It is shocking to see the film AFTER seeing the Abu Ghraib images. If you haven't seen it, rent it.
***WARNING: The film is highly disturbing.
Why bring up this film now? We know that over the last 2 years, the Bush Administration has been conducting similar "experiments" in your name, with your tax dollars.
But now, we can put an end to the Bush torture experiments. NOW.
Learn how, below.....
John McCain.
Lindsay Graham.
John Warner.
This crew rarely gives all of us here at dKos reason to cheer.
Nonetheless, these men are taking a stand against torture. In an article entitled Who We Are in today's New York Times, Bob Herbert sets it up nicely:
You won't find many people willing to accuse John McCain, John Warner or Lindsey Graham of being soft on terrorism. But the three Republican senators are giving the White House fits with their attempt to get legislation approved that would expressly prohibit cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.
Unlike almost all Senators, McCain, Graham and Warner have served in the military. And as Herbert eloquently notes, the White House has been trying to smother their criticism of the Bush Administration's treatment of detainees. (Simultaneously, the White House has been trying to prevent the disclosure of the pictures and video taken at Abu Ghraib, and are currently defying a court order to turn the pictures over.)
After seeing Das Experiment, I will go one step further. This is not just "treatment of detainees", because that's too abstract and too clinical. This is reckless disregard for human life and dignity. We are talking about crimes against humanity.
Once you realize that the Prison Experiment was carried out in the early 70s, and that there are thousands of pages of research on the effects of a "prison" situation on the guards and the prisoners, you conclude that the United States leadership had a duty to make certain that military prisons were operated properly and that inmates were and are being treated humanely. They knew, or should have known, that torture would occur in an unsupervised prison. It is obvious that, at minimum, Abu Ghraib and many other prisons were not properly supervised, and even though Senators on both sides of the aisle are loath to admit it, the Gonzales memos and other materials support the conclusion that torture was sanctioned at a high level of authority. This is a stain on the United States. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo have degraded America's reputation and destroyed our moral authority. As McCain said, this is about "who we are." It must be investigated further, but most important, it must stop.
NOW there is hope that we can stop this.
McCain, Graham and Warner have given us the chance to insure that torture STOPS NOW. We may not get another chance. We should grab it.
How you ask?
As a first step, by mobilizing public opinion to insure that the McCain/Graham legislation becomes law.
Time to get to work! Other ideas and suggestions about how to support this legislation are much appreciated.