by Corey Widdison

Created on: May 13, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

There is a lot going around these days on just what is torture. I'm sure you remember the Abu Ghraib incident. Was what the soldiers did torture? If one of our soldiers were to get captured by the enemy, you can bet that what would happen to that soldier, would, without a doubt, be torture. We Americans have different ideas about what torture is or is not. But just how should we decide what's what?

This is a very hot topic that can get out of control real quick, so I want to come at this from a couple of different ways. This topic is as personal as anything else so try to think about what you would do if you were the President or the King of the world. Do you think you could torture another human being? If torture had to be done, and you were the one deciding yea or nay, could you make the call? Or how about if you were the one being told to torture the prisoner, could you?

Before you answer these questions think hard about it. It is easy to say yes we should torture these bad people when you are just answering some poll and that's as far as your commitment goes. But would you be so quick to answer if you had to actually see it happen, or had to be the one doing the torturing?

I served in Iraq as a prison guard, post Abu Ghraib no less, and we were definitely not torturing anyone. I'm asking if what the soldiers did was torture, or was it just something that happens when people have complete control over another person? I would say it would be something closer to the latter. The things they did were no doubt perverse, but also had a little wicked undertone that goes beyond just perversion.

Putting bags on your captives heads and making them stand in weird positions naked is not in my mind torture. However, what these soldiers did do, was take complete advantage of the power they had over their detainees. If you were in such a position, would you be able to take care of your detainees without any kind of abuse no matter how small? Yes, I did just say take care of your detainees. These people, no matter what they did to be there, are completely and utterly dependent on you. In Iraq we had complete control of the detainees. We gave them appropriate food for their religion, took them to and from the court dates, and gave them medical attention when they needed it. No matter what whey did they all received the same care without exception.

What does this have to do with torture? In the case of the Abu Ghraib, do you think that if those pictures had never

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