2012-07-04

Breaking: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney In Syria to Consult with Assad Regime. Developing.

"Basat al reeh." "Dulab." "Falaqa." They are Arabic names for torture techniques that send chills through the hearts of Syrians, particularly the untold thousands who are believed to have been detained during the uprising of the last 15 months.
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-07-03/middleeast/world_meast_syria-torture-report_1_torture-victims-human-rights-watch-latakia?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST

On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, assured the world that “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.” Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria, was surprised to learn of Bush’s statement. Two and a half years ago, American officials, suspecting Arar of being a terrorist, apprehended him in New York and sent him back to Syria, where he endured months of brutal interrogation, including torture. When Arar described his experience in a phone interview recently, he invoked an Arabic expression. The pain was so unbearable, he said, that “you forget the milk that you have been fed from the breast of your mother.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0208-13.htm