force feedings at Gitmo

[drewkitty]

My Friends List will fall into three categories if I write what I think about the force feedings at Gitmo.

1) Humanists: "Ewww . . . they do that?!?!? Shove tubes down people's noses daily for years to force them to stay alive? How can I complain about this?"

2) Academics: "You know, that's an interesting psychwar technique. Especially when the former commandant at Gitmo had it done to himself just to prove that it's really a medical intervention and not torture. When doctors participate in forced feeding, are they within the bounds of the profession?"

3) Asshats: "Terrorists deserve anything that's done to them, what's the big deal? Some of the 'strikers' even complain if their force feedings are delayed."

I don't want to gross out my friends who are human beings. I don't really want to get into an academic discussion of the details of forced gastric feeding and its implications for liberty. I'm tired of providing a forum for asshats to display their asshattery.

I'm just going to point out one thing.

Force feeding is a technique borrowed from the American prison system.

Think about it!

Comments

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I've had NG tubes. Even when you request the damn things (I had to drink a lot of contrast fluid prior to a CT scan. ReadyCat, the stuff used by Stanford, is vile and I could not swallow it. I asked for the tube to get it all down) having one inserted is uncomfortable at best.

So I'm really ambivlient about this. On one hand, I don't like the idea of letting people become martyrs. On the other hand, it is an invasive medical procedure.

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

I say we should only force-feed them if the mixture contains pork :)