Ban Torture

“The American public is far more open than opinion leaders to the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information. Nearly half of the public (46%) says this can be either often (15%) or sometimes (31%) be justified. This is consistent with results of Pew surveys since July 2004.

By contrast, no more than one-in-four in any of the eight elite groups believes the torture of terrorist suspects can be sometimes or often justified. Strong opposition to torture is particularly pronounced among security experts, religious leaders and academics, majorities of whom say the use of torture to gain important information is never justified. Nearly half (48%) of scientists and engineers also take this position, as do military leaders (49%).”

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, America’s Place in the World survey, November 17, 2005.

“His film is long, detailed and not always easy to watch. Plenty of moviegoers would happily pay not to think about the issues raised in ‘Taxi to the Dark Side.’ But sooner or later we will need to understand what has happened in this country in the last seven years, and this documentary will be essential to that effort.” (New York Times, review of Taxi to the Dark Side, January 18, 2008, by A. O. Scott. Directed by Alex Gibney.)

Official site

“The pain was so unbearable, he said, that ‘you forget the milk that you have been fed from the breast of your mother.’ ”

Outsourcing Torture: The secret history of America’s “extraordinary rendition” program. By Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, February 14, 2005.