Those who still think our government only tortured high value prisoners in search of critical information needed immediately to save American lives should read this article. Published in Esquire, by John H. Richardson, it is a fascinating eyewitness account of torture American style. The piece relates the experiences of an Army interrogator assigned to Task Force 121 at Camp NAMA who “conducted or participated in about fifteen harsh interrogations, most involving the use of ice water to induce hypothermia. By his reckoning, at least half of the prisoners were innocent, just random Iraqis who got picked up for one reason or another. Sometimes the evidence against them was so slight, Jeff would go into the interrogation without even knowing their names.”

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this essay is the numerous mentions of Obama’s new commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, as the high ranking officer who sanctioned and even encouraged the repugnant activities described.

Hat tip to Scott Horton