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Anatomy of Murder

"The U.S. government's use and defense of torture and inhumane treatment [of prisoners] played the largest role in undermining Washington's ability to promote human rights. . . . Any discussion of detainee abuse in 2005 must begin with the United States, not because it is the worst violator but because it is the most influential. . . . The widely publicized abuse at Abu Ghraib paralleled similar if not worse abuse in Afghanistan, in Guantánamo, elsewhere in Iraq, and in the chain of secret detention facilities where the U.S. government holds its "high-value" detainees."

Who said that? None other than the introduction to the recently published Human Rights Watch World Report 2006..

It's a damning indictment - naturally enough denied by the White House. For an article on the realities "on the ground", as it were, this piece from the village voice gives some context to the subject of torture and the way the US sees things. Needless to say the White House view on the topic is out of sync with reality. Troubling to say the least!

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