006

Many Iraqis, at least those not on the rack, must have derived a certain comfort at the news that their Ministry of Interior police have been snatching people off streets and out of beds. It has to give them a sense of continuity, of contact with the Baath Party past.

And the news that the disappeared are taken to dark and secret places to be tortured has to heighten a sense of connectedness with their fallen tyrant, Saddam Hussein. All’s right with the world for the whippings and brandings go on as if the Americans had never come and there had never been shock and awe. Psychologically, Operation Iraqi Freedom has not been the disorienting experience some Iraqis may have feared.

Some questions about the newly discovered torture chambers need answering. For many months now, President Bush and his unindicted co-conspirators have been saying that they have been training a new Iraqi constabulary which will take over for the American visitors. Has the United States been training the Iraqi torturers? Do we have a school for that?

More questions. Do the Iraqis have an aptitude for torture? Do they come by it naturally, thanks to their strict monotheism? Are they using traditional, medieval instruments of torture or are they going high tech, using people with advanced degrees as it is said the Americans do? We get hints that the Americans use a variety of specialists when engaged in information extraction from enemy assets. They have lawyers to say when, and psychological warfare practitioners to say how, doctors to say how much, and politicians to explain how it fits in with freedom.

Do the Iraqis enjoy the work? Or does it bother them? If so, how much? Should they? Should the Americans? Are the locals licensed to torture? Do they have the proper training? We Americans understand the importance of expertise but Iraqis? They don’t license their barbers and cosmeticians or so we are given to understand and they often drink untreated water.

Are these people ready for torture? Yes, we agree that they are ready to be tortured, but are they ready to do it? It does not demand technique or training to be strapped down and have a poker inserted in the anus, but to handle the poker correctly, to get its temperature just right and to know how and how long to complete the operation, skill is required.

People who complete a course of training in this work should be distinguished somehow. James Bond was 007, licensed to kill. What about Mustapha X, 006, licensed to question?