In my opinion ... It can be very difficult to make any sense at all out of
the torture and brutality consistently and widely inflicted by law
enforcement officers and secret police interrogators if one accepts the
notion that they are just trying to enforce the law or get
information. They are also doing something much more. They are also
intimidating and terrorizing populations. They are attempting to
demonstrate the power and pervasiveness of the state, and are directing
their violence against sections of the population for political and
psychological as well as police purposes. I say this not to discourage
just movements to limit and eliminate police and secret police brutality
and torture I am in solidarity with these necessary efforts. I say this to
point out that state-organized brutality such as is exhibited in those
photos from Iraq is by no means an exception or an anomaly, which is how it
is being portrayed by the chief executive of state violence in the world
today, George W. Bush.
Thank you.
- Steve
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