Talking of Torture. (Insider report).

It's an old idea -- one we thought had been discredited in the civilized world -- but the subject of torture as a tool in the war on terrorism is being mooted in some Establishment media outlets. Newsweek's November 5th issue, for instance, features an ambivalent article by Jonathan Alter entitled "Time to Think About Torture." The piece suggests that, just maybe, we should seriously consider doing "something to jump-start the stalled investigation of the greatest crime in American history." Nothing so radical as "cattle prods or rubber hoses, at least here in the United States," Alter hastens to reassure his readers. Instead, he recommends "psychological torture, like tapes of dying rabbits or high-decibel rap" or "truth serum, administered with a mandatory IV" or even "deportation to Saudi Arabia, land of beheadings." Stopping short of the rack and thumbscrews, the article goes on to recommend "court-sanctioned psychological interrogation" and "transferring some suspects to our less squeamish allies."

Alter and others are frustrated at the silence of four jailed suspects alleged to be involved with Osama bin Laden's network. The four men -- Zacarias Moussaoui, Mohammed Jaweed Azmath, Ayub Ali Khan, and Nabil Almarabh -- are being held in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center and have so far refused to talk to FBI investigators. Walter Pincus of the Washington Post reported on October 21st that the FBI is considering "drugs or pressure tactics, such as those employed occasionally by Israeli interrogators," or extradition to "allied countries where security services sometimes employ threats to family members or resort to torture." One FBI official quoted in the Pincus article indicated that, while torture and so-called "truth serums" may not be legal now, the latter at least might become indispensable in the future: "If there is another major attack on U.S. soil, the American public could let it happen. Drugs might taint a prosecution, but it might be worth it."