Taxi to the Dark Side

Torture has been a contentious subject in American politics over the last five years. Today, proponents argue that a ticking-time bomb scenario easily rationalizes the use of techniques that violate the Geneva Convention, while critics argue that torturing detainees radicalizes the innocent and gives terrorists fodder for propaganda.

However, this wasn't always the argument. Alex Gibney's 2007 documentary, "Taxi to the Dark Side," ruthlessly explains the evolution of the Bush administration's public relations campaign to absolve themselves of any blame for their "trip to the dark side," as Vice President Dick Cheney phrased the military's change in strategy. In 2002, no one mentioned the word torture, though it was used extensively. Only after two Afghan detainees died in the Bagram prison in Afghanistan was its use noticed; at which point, the administration and the military launched the "few bad apples" slogan.

Gibney begins there, with the death of the second man, Dilawar. An Afghan policeman accused Dilawar of involvement in a rocket attack and he was detained at the Bagram prison. American forces later discovered Dilawar's accuser was looking for compensation, and was actually the one responsible for the attack. For five days, Dilawar yelled, prayed and moaned while he was put in stress positions and isolation. For five days, soldiers dished blunt knee strikes to his legs to shut him up. If he hadn't died on the fifth day of his detention, his legs would have needed to be amputated because of the punishment they received, but he did die.

Unsatisfied with the military's explanation that he died of "natural causes," Carlotta Gall, a New York Times reporter, tracked down Dilawar's family. They had his autopsy report, which said his death was a homicide. This news forced the military to begin an investigation that not surprisingly placed all the blame on the soldiers who tortured Dilawar, the proverbial low men on the totem pole, while their commanding officers were protected.

Gibney interviewed four humbled soldiers after each had served a minimal jail sentence for what was called "dereliction of duty" in Dilawar's detention. As they reflect on Dilawar and the rest of their time at Bagram, they detail the chilling reality of the violent and psychological tactics used on detainees, all approved by the Pentagon and later implemented at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Gruesome photographs and videos from Bagram and Abu Ghraib accompany their testimonials of what the higher ups in the U.S. military and Bush administration claimed were isolated incidents. Gibney also plays clips of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's press conferences and military hearings in Congress to show the rhetoric versus the reality; what they said they knew versus what they actually knew.

The truth, according to the interviewed soldiers, is that military officers and administration officials had daily communication with them at Bagram and knew everything that was going on. Ironically, it was business as usual when officers or Rumsfeld visited, but when the American Red Cross visited, all detainees were temporarily removed from the so-called stress positions. Apparently, handcuffing prisoners to a grated ceiling, sleep depravation, sexual humiliation and the other physical and psychological tactics used to break them down would have been too much for the Red Cross to see.

In his interviews with behavioral scientists, professional interrogators and even one Bagram detainee, Gibney makes the point that torture doesn't provide reliable information. A prisoner being tortured will say anything to make you stop, so they will usually say what they think you want to hear. According to one Bagram interrogator interviewed, once a prisoner gave them information, they immediately stopped and acted on it, giving the prisoner what he wants while leading the military on a wild goose chase. Jack Cloonan, an F.B.I. interrogator, reasoned that talking with the prisoner and gaining their confidence is the only effective way to get reliable information. In a touching moment, Gibney's father Frank, a World War II veteran who interrogated Japanese prisoners, spoke about his service shortly before he died. He echoed Cloonan's statement and questioned the moral credibility of our government if we use torture.

While Gibney makes the counter-argument on torture to balance the dialogue, "Taxi" clearly portrays his convictions on the issue in an insightful and daring piece of journalism.