The U.S. military is engaged in the systematic "torture" of hundreds of thousands of American citizens - according to new standards established by the McCain amendment, which forbids cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of terrorist detainees.
Los Angeles Times columnist Max Boot blew the lid off the outrageous torture scandal earlier this week, reporting:
"There are major facilities all over the country where thousands of men and women who have not committed any crime are held for prolonged periods while subjected to physical and psychological coercion that violates every tenet of the Geneva Convention."
Boot details the horrific "torture" techniques carried out on these unsuspecting Americans.
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• They are routinely made to stand for long periods in uncomfortable positions.
• They are made to walk for hours while wearing heavy loads on their backs.
• They are bullied by martinets who get in their faces and yell insults at them.
• They are hit and often knocked down with clubs known as pugil sticks.
• They are denied sleep for more than a day at a time.
• They are forced to inhale tear gas.
• They are prevented from seeing friends or family.
"Some are traumatized by this treatment," notes Boot. "A few even die."
Worse still, the systematic torture of Americans appears to have been sanctioned at the highest levels of the White House.
Yet the abuse continues without a peep of protest from Sen. McCain and his Democratic allies - like Sen. Dick Durbin, who decried the "Nazi-like" interrogation techniques employed on terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay.
The locations of these U.S.-based Abu Ghraibs? Parris Island, S.C., Camp Pendleton, Calif., Ft. Benning, Ga., Ft. Jackson, S.C., and other bases where the Army and Marines train recruits.
We trust that Sen. McCain will launch an investigation into the brutal techniques employed by U.S. military trainers as soon as he's finished tying the hands of America's military interrogators.