Lens On Gitmo

Why the 2003 interrogation tapes of Gitmo prisoner Omar Khadr look so bad:

1.  With the dingy surroundings, the view through the air-conditioning grate (which has the feel of a horizontal blind), and the black dots obscuring the heads of the supposed good guys, the "vocabulary" here bears a stronger resemblance to a surveillance tape capturing a crime going down -- which is exactly the point Khadr's lawyers are making, isn't it?

2. Since we've seen next-to-nothing but sterile shots inside Gitmo (1, 2), it's hard not to look at these pictures and think of Abu Ghraib, especially with the hat/mask, the orange jump suit, and the-then 16-year-old kid with his shirt pulled down.

Canadian teen's gitmo interrogation film released - includes school boy shot of Khadr and also graphic image when he was captured - Docudharma
The Unending Torture of Omar Khadr (Rolling Stone)
Blurry Peek at Questioning of a Guantánamo Inmate (NYT)

(screen grab: AFP)

Comments

[black dog barking]

If I were charged with extracting information from reluctant and hostile prisoners I would damn sure record every second of every contact. Of particular interest would be questions that suddenly got a different answer. Plus I'd want to scrutinize the prisoner's performance for tells, things I might miss in the moment but catch in replay. Why aren't there exhaustive tapes of all interrogation sessions? Legal problems for the inquisitors?

[Unamerican Pinko Commie]

"Plus I'd want to scrutinize the prisoner's performance for tells, things I might miss in the moment but catch in replay. Why aren't there exhaustive tapes of all interrogation sessions?"

Ironically, this is what my father does-- one of his main jobs is catching employees at the casino embezzling money (surprisingly common). He tapes everything. And... doesn't have to rely on cold cells of drowning people or stress positions. He gets them every time.

All it takes is psychological judo. But torture is cooler than using your noggin, right? Just like in the movies!