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< rant >

Since WWII, we've taken all our interrogation cues from this guy, who was so effective at getting information from POWs and enemy agents that his methods inform modern techniques in the industrial world.

We knew all this well before the whole Abu Ghraib controversy in 2003 and CIA's Extrajudicial Detention and Enhanced Interrogation program, as did the very guys who developed the program.

So they not only committed crimes against humanity, but can't even fall back on justifications of war. During the international war on terror, the US tortured POWs, civilians and even Americans because some rich people and officials wanted Arab Muslims to suffer for their own gratification, and no other reason.

It was the moment that I realized the US (my own country) are, in fact, the baddies.

Yes, CIA did engage in some irregular interrogation methods during the cold war, often in dealing with counter-espionage situations, but even then it wasn't regarded as an acceptable torture method. KGB, similarly, at least once fed a caught mole feet first into a blast furnace while the rest of the staff watched. It sent a message but fucked morale for weeks.

Torturing others reminds us we human beings are still beasts who sometimes pretend to be civilized but still can't help ourselves but go on our feelies, often showing the world just how sore a loser we can be. We have to try harder, maybe get clever, to do better.

< /rant >