Torture Glossary

Torture Glossary

abuse

torture

bad guys

citizens of a country with resources the USA covets.

blowback

the retaliation for underhanded activity where that activity was kept secret from the people, so that the retaliation appears without motivation.

colatteral damege

Killing civilians. Even if the military drops bombs on private homes, intentionally killing the inhabitants, they pretend to regret it, as if it were some unfortunate, but unavoidable accident.

burning hair

?

dating the walrus

A walrus is a large arctic mammal. Walrus’s have the longest baculum (penis bone) of any living mammal about 50 cm (1.64 ft) long. Walruses don’t do well in desert climates. So the phrase means inserting large objects into the rectum.

detainee

A prisoner of war (POW) selected for torture.

detention centre

torture dungeon

dog handling

frightening with dogs. Getting dogs to bite prisoners. Getting dogs to anally or vaginally rape prisoners.

double dipping

?

enhanced interrogation techniques

Torture techniques that must be kept secret to avoid public revulsion.

ethnic cleansing

Exterminating an entire ethnic group.

extraordinary rendition

Handing over someone to a third world country to be tortured to avoid the legal checks on toture in a first world country. The USA placed its torture dungeon in Cuba as a legal dodge to avoid constitutional protections from torture.

freedom

Originally it meant the right to do what you pleased so long as you did not harm others. In Bush speak it means American corporate interests, as in the marines are defending freedom night and day all over the globe.

haji

derogatory term used by American soldiers for Iraqis, similar to gook or slope of the Viet Nam era. It literally means a Muslim on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

insurgent

Properly speaking a rebel against a legitimate government. In Bush-speak a member of the resistance.

interrogation protocols

techniques of torture

liberty

Originally it meant the right to say whatever you pleased without fear of being jailed. In Bush speak, it means American domination, as in the marines are spreading liberty to every country on earth.

juice ball

?

OIL

Routine torture of all detainees. OIL (Operation Iraqi Liberation), renamed to OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom), when somebody noticed the unintended honesty.

pop top

?

pounding the marbles

Squashing the testicles

PUC

(Person Under Control), a prisoner

rendition

Sending a POW to a country with lax rules against torture for really nasty torture out of sight. Condoleeza Rice claims the USA does rendition, but claims it is not for torture. She claims the USA trusts the target country noted for torture not to torture these particular prisoners. Get serious! Why bother with rendition then? If the USA were not torturing, they would keep the suspects in jail in the continental USA. They keep them outside the USA, e.g. in Guantánamo and in eastern Europe, so they that American laws against cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners do not apply. There is no other reason for rendition.

riding the dog

?

rogue nation

a nation that won’t hand over its oil to the USA without a fight.

terrorist

Properly speaking someone who kills civilians. The American invaders of Iraq would fit this definition. In Bush-speak, a member of the resistance.

tough tactics

torture to extract bogus confessions

town meeting

informercial filming

unlawful combatants

prisoners of war

war

occupation. The Iraq war proper was over within a week. The Iraqi army was defeated. The capital was occupied. A puppet dictatorship was installed. What has happened since has been an occupation. Bush called it a war because Americans don’t like losing wars and were thus more easily suckered into continuing the occupation. You can’t win or lose an occupation. You can only decide when to end it.

waterboarding

where a suspect is strapped to a board, turned upside down and immersed in a wet towel to simulate the feeling of drowning until he loses consciousness. Some say it literally is drowning by forcing water into the mouth and nose. Others claim it just a nice warm bath to relax the suspect into confessing.

standard footer

	This page is posted on the web at:	http://mindprod.com/politics/iraqtorturegloss.html
	Optional Replicator mirror of mindprod.com on local hard disk J:	J:\mindprod\politics\iraqtorturegloss.html
	Please read the feedback from other visitors, or send your own feedback about the site. Contact Roedy. Please feel free to link to this page without explicit permission.
	Canadian Mind Products IP:[65.110.21.43] Your face IP:[18.227.209.140]
Feedback	You are visitor number