CIA Torture Report and the Dehumanization of the Victims
The techniques employed by the Central Intelligence Agency to interrogate detainees documented in the Senate Intelligence Committee report released yesterday have made international news. CNN identifies the “most shocking passages” of the disturbing report. The New York Times identifies its own “key points.” The Daily Beast lists the report’s “most gruesome moments.”
It should not be forgotten that the victims of what President Obama and others have chacarterized as “torture” were members of certain distinct racial, ethnic, or religious groups associated with terrorism in the eyes of many Americans. They were dehumanized in the media and by their interrogators. Similarly, as is well-documented, Arabs and Muslims in the United States were subjected to interrogation, detention, and new immigration requirements (such as spoecial registration) after the events of September 11, 2001. Note also that the new Obama administration guidelines on racial and other profiling exempt federal law enforcement officers from relying on profiles based on race, national origin, religion, etc., in national security (as well as immigration enforcement) matters.
KJ