Oscar Winner for Best Documentary: Taxi to the Dark Side

For those who watched the Oscars Sunday night, finally something of substance surfaced that is worthy of mention. The documentary titled: Taxi to the Dark Side, was hands down the winner.

"A harrowing film throwing the spotlight on US interrogation techniques at military facilities won the Oscars best documentary prize here Sunday.

Alex Gibney's "Taxi to the Dark Side" investigates the death in custody of a Afghan taxi-driver, Dilawar, at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in 2002.

An investigation into the death later found Dilawar had been repeatedly kicked and punched and was chained to the ceiling of his cell for days.

Gibney, who also produced hit documentary "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room", said in his acceptance speech that his wife had wanted him to make a romantic comedy.

"But honestly after Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and extraordinary rendition that simply wasn't possible," the film-maker said before dedicating the film to Dilawar, and his own father.
“This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, the young Afghan taxi driver and my father a Navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury at what was being done to the rule of law,” said Gibney.
"Let's hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and go back to the light," he said.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/film/reviews/55268/taxi-to-the-dark-side/
Director: Alex Gibney

Now to get the Doc aired ...

Video of director Alex Gibney’s acceptance speech

From TP (found while searching for Alex's speech): the Discovery Channel reneged on its contract to show Taxi before 2008 elections, however, HBO announced plans to air Taxi in Sept. 2008.

Taxi Web Site

Came across a new article today from CounterPunch:

A Nightmare World of Torture and Prison Guard Suicides Confessions of a Gitmo Guard

Hopefully, the public will see that the so-called confessions that comes forth during the tribunal trials, at Gitmo, should not be considered confessions, because the testimony was forced under the duress of torture.

Don't get me wrong, some of those prisoners were not the type you would want to meet in an ally, however, they were not smart or savvy enough to accomplish what they are accused of. They are patsies.

Another article:
Guantánamo guards suffer psychological trauma