Giuliani and Torture
Could Rudy Pass the Test? CounterPunch, CA
By SHERWOOD ROSS
If Rudy Giuliani doubts that sleep deprivation and waterboarding are torture, why doesn’t he try them himself?
As the tough-talking Republican advocate of “aggressive questioning,” he thinks the “liberal media” exaggerate torture, so why not show them up?
New York City’s Finest could do to Rudy what U.S. interrogators are doing to suspects in the Middle East and stage it all on Fox TV because Fox knows all about it. Writers of its “24″ series have come up with so many ugly torture ideas the Army asked them to stop because Iraq interrogators have been adopting them.
The torture flap erupted when Sen. John McCain said Giuliani showed his inexperience by doubting waterboarding is torture. Giuliani also said sleep deprivation isn’t torture: “I mean, on that theory, I’m getting tortured running for president of the United States. That’s plain silly.”
Fox could erect a room-sized prison with transparent windows in Times Square where Giuliani will be subjected to a week of no-sleep interrogation. Unlike Iraqi prisoners, the ex-mayor will be allowed to keep his pants on and none of the interrogators will wrap a woman’s brassiere around his head, even if both his former wives offer.
To make sure Fox doesn’t go soft on Giuliani, sleep-inducing excerpts from his campaign speeches will be piped in around-the-clock, good as any barbiturates. Next, a succession of New York City detectives working four-hour shifts will take turns subjecting Giuliani to “aggressive questioning”. [more]