A Chilling Old Article in the Economist, on the U.S. and Torture In its January 9, 2003, issue The Economist ran an article that is frankly chilling when read in the context of the events of Abu Ghraib occurring later that year and coming to light only now. "Torture has been outlawed in all circumstances everywhere. But global terrorism may be leading America to bend the rules THE reports have been emerging only slowly, but they are chilling. American intelligence agents have been torturing terrorist suspects, or engaging in practices pretty close to torture." ... Senior American figures, from Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, to Colin Powell, the secretary of state, have insisted that America is abiding by international agreements banning torture. Lower-level spokesmen, when asked about interrogation methods, continue to deny absolutely that America has breached such agreements. Unfortunately, that is not what American officials directly involved in interrogating terrorist suspects have been telling reporters. The most detailed account of these, a long article in the Washington Post at the end of December, quotes these officials as claiming that prisoners are being subjected to a range of “stress-and-duress” techniques such as hooding, sleep deprivation, being held in awkward positions and, in some cases, denied painkillers for injuries. They are sometimes beaten, too. One official puts it bluntly: “If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job.” Given what is being revealed now, the article is disturbing to say the least.