Waterboarding is torture, but not when the U.S. does it

One of the funny things about the New York Times' avoidance of the word "torture" is that everyone knew it eventually slip up or give up. It finally did so in a discussion of waterboarding. Glenn Greenwald:

So according to The New York Times, it's journalistically improper to call waterboarding "torture" -- when done by the United States, but when Nazi Germany (or China) does exactly the same thing, then it may be called "torture" repeatedly and without qualification. An organization which behaves this way may be called many things; "journalist" isn't one of them.

Presumably the NYT prefers to give up on the logic behind its euphemisms rather than follow it to places like Nazi Germany, where phrases like "enhanced interrogation techniques" would stop being a joke and become offensively stupid.

• [RickB]

  Actually they already followed the way to Nazi Germany with ‘enhanced interrogation’:-

  The phrase “Verschärfte Vernehmung” is German for “enhanced interrogation”. Other translations include “intensified interrogation” or “sharpened interrogation”. It’s a phrase that appears to have been concocted in 1937, to describe a form of torture that would leave no marks, and hence save the embarrassment pre-war Nazi officials were experiencing as their wounded torture victims ended up in court.

  http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/05/verschfte_verne.html

  • [peterbruells]

    Straying off-topic: During the Middle Ages we called it “peinliche Befragung.” Modern German might misunderstand this as “embarrassing questionaire”, since the meaning shifted, but back then it was a truly honest term: “painful/pain-causing interrogation”.

• [Anonymous]

  “…but not when the U.S. does it”

  That right there, unfortunately, is the primary cause of much of the world’s problems these days.

• [Brainspore]

  Remind me why neocons always dismiss the NYT as part of the Liberal Mediaâ„¢ again?

  • [billstewart]

    Why the right wing calls the NYT the Liberal Media? Same reason they say that about Public Broadcasting. Yes, there are all kinds of wonderful people producing really high-quality programming there, but it’s still the Establishment’s radio and TV stations, even though it’s the more liberal and artistic side of the Establishment. Terry Gross has the guts to say “torture” in her program, but I’ve never heard any of the news shows use the term when they’re doing the government’s press releases with commentary from the usual sources, while they’ve said “enhanced interrogation” or “harsh interrogation” all the time.

• [Anonymous]

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  Quick, get out of the way
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  Better watch what you say
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  And our pistols are hungry and our tempers are short
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  We pick and choose as we please, boys
  Pick and choose as we please
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  And we don’t really care if you’re yellow or black
  Just take off your clothes and lay down on your back
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  We’re the Cops of the World

  Our boots are needing a shine, boys
  Boots are needing a shine
  But our Coca-Cola is fine, boys
  Coca-Cola is fine
  We’ve got to protect all our citizens fair
  So we’ll send a battalion for everyone there
  And maybe we’ll leave in a couple of years
  ‘Cause we’re the Cops of the World, boys
  We’re the Cops of the World

  And dump the reds in a pile, boys
  Dump the reds in a pile
  You’d better wipe off that smile, boys
  Better wipe off that smile
  We’ll spit on the streets of the cities we wreck
  And we’ll find you a leader that you can elect
  (Those treaties we signed were a pain in the neck)
  ‘Cause we’re the Cops of the World, boys
  We’re the Cops of the World

  And clean the johns with a rag, boys
  Clean the johns with a rag
  If you like you can use your flag, boys
  If you like you can use your flag
  We’ve got too much money we’re looking for toys
  And guns will be guns and boys will be boys
  But we’ll gladly pay for all we destroy
  ‘Cause we’re the Cops of the World, boys
  We’re the Cops of the World

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  Here’s a kick in the ass, boys
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  And we’re the Cops of the World, boys
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  And when we’ve butchered your sons, boys
  Once we’ve butchered your sons
  Have a stick of our gum, boys
  Have a stick of our bubble gum
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  So, like it or not, you will have to be free!
  ‘Cause we’re the Cops of the World, boys
  We’re the Cops of the World

  –Phil Ochs

• [Anonymous]

  One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.

  • [Anonymous]

    There is a real difference: hitting civilian vs. military targets, fighting according to the Geneva conventions vs. not, trying to expel forces vs. spread terror,and so on. Unfortunately we have rather blurred the difference in common speech thanks to double-speak like this.

• [Anonymous]

  This is the world we live in. everyone thinks is right unfortunately the power beats the soul

• [phisrow]

  It’s axiomatic that we are the good guys. And the good guys would never torture anyone. Ergo, we have never tortured anyone…

  • [Anonymous]

    In the same way, extremism is a point of view. We’re the “hardliners” who crack down on the “extremists”. And never the other way round.

• [happytweak]

  Well said, Glenn.

  Now if only it wasn’t a fact that this also applies to 90% of mainstream news organisations in this country.

  Instead of getting facts, all we get are quickly jumbled images and pointless (and, need I say, mostly illogical) opinions.

  I love having to stick to comedy and foreign media as well as independent research to know what’s going on. So damn convenient.

• [Anonymous]

  I assume the NYT (and most others) use this for their guidelines…

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Political_Economy_of_the_Mass_Media

  … they certainly seem to tick the right boxes.

• [astrochimp]

  I bet they’ll expect another Pulitzer for this.