Rendition

Over the weekend, the husband i caught Rendition on the big screen.

I watched mostly for Reese Witherspoon and the husband watched mostly because he had no other choice.

After the movie when we were on the way home, we discussed quite abit about it, rendition. I never knew what the word meant, never knew such word exists [yes, my engrish is very bad!] until the movie.

Rendition : secretive, controversial American government practise of abducting foreign people who are deemed security threats for detention and interrogation in unknown locations overseas.

Another word will be scarily maddening. Note : maddening used here has got more than 1 meaning.

The movie itself though slow, it was intense. Very. I couldn't wait for it to end, for i couldn't really breath anymore. I sympathised with the characters played by a few of the actors and actresses, including the heartless Meryl Streep.

I can't quite say i can understand what they are going through because i've never gone through it and hopefully will never go through it. But i certainly could feel it for them.

Rendition is a very cruel thing to do. I hate cruelty. Any kind. Any sort. I condemned such act. To put a human being through such act is purely inhuman. It's barbaric, illegal and totally indefensible method.

Like the movie, i truly believe if you were to really torture a human in such a way, even if he/she is NOT guilty, he/she will somehow come out with an answer merely to satisfy you and be taken off hook for a while because that is what you want [there's a Shakespeare quote for this but i forgot and i can't find it]. No answer? - because you are truly innocent-. Continue torturing!

Mad.

A kind soul is the husband but he begs to differ on my views. Yes, cruel no doubt, he said. Hb then asked me a question. Would i rather 1-2 or more innocent die out of this practise : rendition or the whole lot of hundreds if not thousands of innocents to die?

I insisted that there must be another way to force a person to open up, even the worst of the worst lot. When i was asked what? I couldn't think of any, sadly except torture.

Is that it? Must we really resort to such act to force answers out, just for that small glitter of hope that we can save thousands of lives with one or two of the answers provided out of the thousands gotten from the innocents and the real terrorists over their dead bodies? And not care how some of the innocent people die? And not care of how the family of these innocent people feel?

Then the husband asked me this.

What would i feel then, say, if a bomb went off, an act by the terrorists at the apartment where my family in KL reside and killed my whole family instantly together with the thousands? How would i feel? Will i still be against rendition?

Me : well.. at least they are not tortured! It was an instant death. No pain.

I know the answer is pretty absurd, but i dunno.. hm.. anything that has got to do with torture, i simply cannot take it and will not accept. But you know what?

I do think the husband has got a point. I'm so into this anti-torture thing until i do not want to accept or see the bigger picture behind it. However, i did shoot one question back to the husband though. Grin.

Me : so, if u were caught through rendition, and were tortured the way the poor guy was tortured in the movie, would you still think that rendition is quite a must?

Hb : i cannot answer such question for i have not gone through it and will never go through it. So i will not be a hypocrite and tell you what i think now for i really would not know what my answer would be then.

Me : *roll eyes* CHEH!

So, am i still against rendition like what i thought i would 100% before talking to the husband?

Honestly, no and nor i support it. I'm sitting on the fence as for now.