by James Rowen

Madison Capital Times

02/07/05

I haven't been able to get out of my mind the description of U.S. Army specialist Charles Graner as 'primary torturer' that was used at Graner's January court-martial by a former detainee and victim of brutality at the Abu Ghraib prison.

... What has stuck in my head about this incident goes beyond Graner having committed torture -- behavior that most Americans, I am sure, see as outside and antithetical to our shared core, historical values. What I can't shake is that Graner was described as the 'primary' torturer, meaning there were others. We have to accept that there were (are?) moderate torturers, minor torturers, plus enablers and disguisers of torture -- acting in our name, being paid out of the billions being spent on the Iraq and Afghan wars and the ill-defined and limitless War on Terror...

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion//index.php?ntid=27540&ntpid=4


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp