Friday, October 03, 2014

Why the Forced-feeding Videos Matter So Much

Guest-blogging today with the awesome Freedom of the Press Foundation:

Okay, this is huge: a federal judge has ordered the government to release videos of Guantanamo force-feedings. Expect the footage to be sickening to watch.

Why is this so important? Because, as the saying goes, if the slaughterhouses of the world were made of glass, we'd all be vegetarians. And the only thing that enables most people to shrug at America's descent into torture and other abusive and illegal practices is the fact that they don't have to see -- and therefore acknowledge -- what's actually happening.


If it's true a picture's worth a thousand words, video is even more so. Imagine if there had been no Abu Ghraib photographs. There barely would have been a story, let alone an outcry, let alone reforms. This is why the CIA destroyed its interrogation videos. It's why the government works so hard to obscure...


The rest at Freedom of the Press Foundation here.

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