Huffington Magazine Issue 35-36 | Page 22
THE OSCAR ISSUE / HUFFINGTON / 02.10-17.13
©2012 ZERO DARK THIRTY, LLC.
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alex gibney
while another agent, Maya
(well-acted by Jessica
Chastain) looks on. For me,
along with the ending, this
was one of the film’s best
moments. The juxtaposition of the agony of 9/11
with the payback that followed — waterboarding
detainees, walking them
around in dog collars (recall
Lyndie England) and stuffNavy Seals raid bin
Laden’s compound in this
ing them in small plywood
still from Zero Dark Thirty.
boxes — perfectly captured
the morality or efficacy of
a bitter poetic truth about
torture. Every mention or
how members of the Bush
portrayal of torture butAdministration responded to tragedy.
tresses the case for its necessity. We don’t
CIA spokespeople have noted the actual
see how corrupting it was, how many miswaterboarding done by the CIA was more
takes were made. Instead, the narrative
controlled and antiseptic than that porengine of Boal’s detective story is kicktrayed in the film. That may be so. But
started by torture.
the fact of the matter is the CIA appears
When the full history of “Enhanced
to have observed or supervised many
Interrogation Techniques” is told we will
“harsh” interrogations conducted either
see that it was not only brutal and counby independent contractors or ruthterproductive, but ridiculous. The CIA
less foreign allies. To compress time and
waterboarded Abu Zubaydah 83 times
space, I accept the way Boal and Bigelow
and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times.
created a “composite” harsh interrogation
Considering the repetition, just how efcombining evidence from all of those.
fective were those techniques? And how
So give points to Boal and Bigelow for
good does the CIA look for insisting on
not pussyfooting around. They make it
mindless repetition of useless tactics?
clear the CIA (or CIA-supervised contrac(Note: Clues to understanding what really
tors) tortured people as part of a “dehappened – the videotapes of CIA watertainee program.” But what’s distressing —
boarding – were destroyed by the CIA’s
given that tough-minded beginning — is
Jose Rodriguez, an act that warranted a
that the f