nancylebov | Just for my peace of mind....

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Would somebody mind doing a public medical examination of Saddam Hussein?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1222/husseins.html

He says he was beaten and tortured while in US custody. It's possible he was, it's possible he wasn't--and it's certainly possible to find out instead of having statements from two untrustworthy sources.

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From:

nancylebov.livejournal.com

I was thinking of it as asking him at his trial whether he'd consent to a televised medical examination. If he won't consent to that, then ignore his complaints, but leave the possibility of a later consented-to televised exam open if he wants one later.

If he does consent, then everyone gets to see whether there are bruises or not, and forensic doctors can argue (if necessary) whether the bruises could have been self-inflicted.

From:

rinku.livejournal.com

Not that I believe he was tortured (I think it's all made up) but there are many methods of torture that wouldn't leave marks on the body, especially months later. I would say that a method of torture that *would* leave anything detectable on the body a few months later is a really primitive form of torture; a modern military would use much more advanced methods (such as sleep deprivation) which have been shown to work better.

From:

nancylebov.livejournal.com

He said he'd been bruised.

From:

rinku.livejournal.com

Yes, but how often have you been bruised just moving around in your house, falling down by accident, in sports, etc? Bruises can mean anything, and are also very easy to self-inflict.

From:

nancylebov.livejournal.com

I don't bruise myself all that often, but I can easily believe that mileage varies.

I optimistically assume that forensics is up to at least a reasonable guess about whether bruises are likely to be self-inflicted.