As far as I can tell from discussions I've seen, Sen. Lindsay Graham is perhaps the most favored choice by Dems, with second place actually going to Gonzales. There's a perception that Gonzales would be fairly independent once he was no longer directly working for the President (although it's...
It was in no way my intention to downplay the difficulties of these situations, and what you are saying here is included in what I meant by "maintain order".
I agree with this also. The focus of my comments has been the flipside of this: that under a system where the rules are fuzzy enough to...
Ok.
This is inaccurate. First of all, my original argument had nothing to do with what the prisoners "should" (or should not) be allowed to do, it was about allowing guards to make arbitrary reprisals. (Perhaps, first of all should be to say that you've never even provided a citation to show...
For science fiction: A book of stories by Greg Egan (I'd suggest Luminous), or The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson or Air by Geoff Ryman or ... that's more than one isn't it?
No useful data has been collected yet that would provide a suitable standard, as when researchers whose models underestimate this quantity make their leap, they generally end up falling into abysses of relativism, never to be seen again, while when those whose models overestimate the quantity...
I doubt you could find a social scientist (a reputable one anyway, though I'm not sure the shills would even argue this one) that would agree with you. The psychological effects of the power dynamics in prison situations are well documented. To the degree you are making an argument, and not just...
Well, I'm glad you're not condoning it at least.
But your answer makes it sound like there's some meaningful question of personal ego. That it's a question of showing the prisoners who's boss. When someone is backed up by the entire apparatus of a detention facility, there's no question who's...
You want to license reprisals by soldiers in a situation where they have complete control over every aspect of detainees' lives?!? Whether or not this is what you intended, it is what you have described. If it is indeed what you intended, then I'm sorry, but it indicates either a contentment...
Right, so the post you're quoting says what isn't in dispute: that some people involved in the riots invoked the Newsweek article, and that this has ended up becoming the prevailing explanation for them. I would guess from context that this person's contacts were probably not involved in any...
The NYT story (http://truthout.org/docs_2005/050105D.shtml not behind their toll gate) says that "a former interrogator at Guantanamo" confirmed the story of the detainee they interviewed. For the purpose of fomenting riots, their unnamed source is just as credible (so to speak) as Newsweek's...
One bit of context to keep in mind perhaps: Silber is a hardcore libertarian of some stripe or other. I haven't read a lot by him, but I've read enough to know that he has no love of liberals, and that he takes a very strong stance on free speech and free press. From what I've read of your...
Then why did none of the earlier articles cited in my post above do it? The Newsweek story was actually the third report of the incident in a major English language source this month. References to a May 1 New York Times story and a May 2 BBC story can be found here. The same source also notes a...
Post Newsweek ergo propter Newsweek?
Newsweek is mostly just being gutless now that the administration is having a hissy fit. Whether or not their particular source knows what he's talking about, the allegation itself isn't news:
Other earlier...