20 January 2013

Zero Dark Misdirection

America just can't seem to come to terms with the fact that the torture debate is not about ticking time-bombs or finding Osama: it's about the fact that when due process is denied and people are subjected to torture, the wheels come off not only on our own humanity but on the protections afforded us all under the constitution.  What Americans - including that imbecile Jon Stewart - can't seem to acknowledge is that innocent people, too - not just bad guys - were rounded up, detained indefinitely and tortured.  In some cases they were released, and in some they died.  Courtesy of The United States of America, the city on the hill.

Does Kathryn Bigelow even acknowledge this?  As far as I can tell, no. An admittedly unscientific analysis - googling "Kathryn Bigelow torture innocent" - yields "hits" from Kathryn that puts torture in the context of  the innocents lost in 9/11, an apparent appropriation of the logic of the Cheneys, but no mention is made of the many innocents who were subjected to indefinite detention and torture. The only "hits" touching on this less convenient truth are some scattered expressions of outrage in reaction to the film - not that it depicts torture, but rather at the gaping hole in humanity that seems to have taken root in America.

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