The Elder Keeps It Rhetorical

In this post, Chad the Elder from Fraters Libertas reviews a story first told by Steven Vincent of one of Saddam Hussein’s torture victims. He also mentioned the story on the Northern Alliance Radio Network. The point Chad and Vincent make is that Saddam used torture against his enemies and true torture bears no resemblance to the United States military protocols for treatment of prisoners.

The story centers around Ali, who was arrested for trying to find out the whereabouts of his brother Samir, earlier victim of Saddam’s regime. At one point Ali is given a choice:

. . . either he allowed torturers to shove a large bottle up his rectum, or hammer a nail into his back.

Immediately after reading this, the first thought that came into my mind was the old American Express commercial featuring Karl Malden, where he asks, “What would you do?”

The Fraters are one of the edgier blogs in the ‘sphere, so I looked to the sidebar, expecting to see a poll on the subject. Thankfully none was there.