By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Alex Gibney
Country: united_states
Year: 2008
Running time: 106
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0854678/
Bruce says: “TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE would have been an entirely different experience had I not already seen Rory Kennedy’s superior GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB and Michael Winterbottom’s more experimental ROAD TO GUANTANAMO, two films which made it to television and the theaters last year. ROAD TO GUANTANAMO covers an incident that begins in Afghanistan and ends in Guantanamo Bay; GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB focus on abuses of detainees in Iraq. Having already learned from these other films that the United States has fully institutionalized torture tactics to fight the ‘war on terror,’ the impact of TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE is lessened considerably.
“TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE is a very thorough examination of the policies of the United States in detaining and torturing enemy combatants in Bagram, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. The title of the film is derived from two sources. In a talk show interview shortly after 9/11 Dick Cheney tells the American people that in order to find and punish the evil people we will have to “use any means disposable” and cross over to ‘the dark side.’ Dilawar, an Afghani taxi driver picked up a fare on December 1, 2002 and was never again seen by family or friends; however, his demise is documented. Dilawar was taken to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, tortured, and murdered by US forces in the interrogation unit within a mere five days.
“Dilawar’s was the second death at Bagram in a week; it was classified as a homicide by the coroner. Later it was discovered the Bagram prisoners had been routinely shackled to the ceiling, caged, beaten and humiliated. Dilawar’s legs had been pulpified in the course of the beatings and he suffered massive tissue damage. The press release stated he died of natural causes.
“Many soldiers participate in the interviews so we get to hear things firsthand. The soldiers in charge had no real training for interrogation. No guidelines existed. Instructions were purposefully vague. As one soldier states, ‘We were told they were less than dogs.’ The men and women in charge of the prisoners started looking at them as sub human.
“The atrocities of Abu Ghraib are well documented as a result of soldiers thinking it would be fun to take pictures of prisoners shackled together naked, men humiliated as they were forced to masturbate in public, and prisoners terrorized by attack dogs. No officers have ever been convicted. Enlisted men and women such as the much demonized Lynndie England have
paid the price in their stead.
“The information regarding Guantanamo is less complete. Using standard CIA interrogation techniques – the ones that the CIA has used in training armies of many third world countries – detainees are kept awake in stress positions under the theory that sleep deprivation and intense sensory stimulation such as loud heavy metal music would break them to the point of confessing their links to terrorist activities. Other techniques favor total sensory deprivation by placing goggles over the eyes and gloves on the hands to eliminate any sense of sight and touch.
“Since the Bush administration defied the 2004 Supreme Court ruling by determining that the handling of enemy combatants did not have to follow the Geneva Convention or traditional American law such as habeas corpus, the United States has effectively abandoned the rule of law.
“TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE employs statistics effectively. Of the 83,000 detainees in various prisons, none have ever been brought to trial. Only 8% appear to have any ties to Al Q’ueda. Some detainees have talked but much of the information extracted has been false or remains unproven. Continuous torture over long periods of time has been ineffectual. It is frightening to hear John McCain state that he would not out rule torture as a means for obtaining information. This from a POW who was once tortured. That does not offer much hope for humanity. 4 cats”