Torture Is Torture

George W. Bush likes to split hairs on the definition of torture (yet he still claims he is a Christian). Now, there is a new report that further disproves Bush's claim that "we do not torture":

Psychological And Physical Torture Have Similar Mental Effects

Science Daily — Forms of ill treatment during captivity that do not involve physical pain--such as psychological manipulation, deprivation, humiliation and forced stress positions--appear to cause as much mental distress and traumatic stress as physical torture, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Most widely accepted definitions of torture encompass both physical and mental pain and suffering, according to background information in the article. "After reports of human rights abuses by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, a U.S. Defense Department working group report on detainee interrogations and a U.S. Justice Department memorandum on U.S. torture policy argued for a fairly narrow definition of torture that excludes mental pain and suffering caused by various acts that do not cause severe physical pain," the study authors write. The detention and interrogation procedures that are excluded from this definition include blindfolding and hooding, forced nudity, isolation and psychological manipulations.