|Taxi to the Dark Side

We finally watched Taxi to the Dark Side, the last film on my list of 5 War-on Terror documentaries I've wanted to see.

While the other four (and others like War Made Easy) were disturbing, this one was especially intense because it focused on the interrogation techniques and patterns of abuse from Afghanistan to Iraq. The film loosely follows the story of a young Afghan, Dilawar, who was the 2nd prisoner to die in the Bagram facilities in a week.

At the Academy Awards, I heard director Alex Gibney say this in his acceptance speech: "This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, the young Afghan taxi driver, and my father, a navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury about what was being done to the rule of law. Let’s hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and back to the light" (copied from Wikipedia).

Unsolved mysteries:

(1) How a man, the president, who claims to be a Christian can advocate for extreme interrogation techniques (aka torture). WWJD?

(2) How the United States can spurn the Geneva Conventions (ICRC info).

(3) How the U.S. can reject Habeas Corpus.