I have not seen and will not see Zero Dark Thirty. I would like to see it to judge for myself what story it tells, what messages it sends. But I simply cannot stomach the torture scenes that I have been told dominate the first half of the film. I cannot endure even staged torture scenes because I represent a man who was tortured by our country. Over the seven years I have been meeting with him, I have witnessed the deeply immoral acts imposed on my client through his words as well as the impact it has had on his mental health. It has left me raw psychologists call it secondary trauma. Hearing about deprivation, degradation and inhumane treatment directly from the person who experienced it is a terrible experience. I wish I did not know what I know.
What I know has been compounded by the fact that these unspeakable acts were carried out by my government. They were sanctioned from the highest echelons of power. This chilling fact is compounded yet again by the fact that the decision to torture was facilitated by members of my own profession. Government lawyers used their skills and talents to legalize torture.
