With such a wealth of research on the subject, the NYT article can only be explained - IMHO - in two ways. Firstly, Mr. Shane and the editorial staff are complete fools who wouldn't know journalism if it came up and slapped them in their faces! Or, Mr. Shane and the editorial staff knew exactly what they were doing, and this is possibly the most tasteless and morally bankrupt piece of propaganda ever written in this country (although I have to admit - as propaganda, it's slick!) In other words, the question is whether they are ignorant or willing tools.
In the end, I wonder if it even matters? Torture has been a topic of public debate since the revelations from Abu Ghraib in 2004. When I read an article like this in 2008, I can't help but think how far public perception (and morality) in this country has slipped in that short time-span. We've gone from saying - as a country - that torture is completely unacceptable, to debating what circumstances it should be used in! In public debate (outside of a few bloggers), the idea of psychological torture is not distinguished from physical torture. In fact, the concept of mental coercion isn't even mentioned in the public discourse!
Kudos to the NY Times and Mr Shane! I've never understood how a nation could undergo a collective denial of reality like the Germans under Hitler, but they've made it clear as day how it works now!
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