Review: Taxi to the Dark Side

"…We have to work the dark side, if you will. Spend time in the shadows of the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion …"- Dick Cheney, September 16th, 2001 on "Meet the Press"

Alex Gibney's "Taxi to the Dark Side" is an unsettling and powerful documentary on the Bush administration's policy on torture. To put it mildly, this film is not for the faint of heart.

The movie uses the death of an Afghan man named Dilawar in December of 2002 as a lenses into "secretive" activities that were ordered by top administration officials. Dilawar's story was featured in the New York Times as well as other publications. He was a peanut farmer along with his family when he scraped together enough money to buy a taxi. Upon becoming a taxi driver, he was turned over to American forces at Bagram Air Force base. Five days later, he was dead.

A report was circled that Dilawar had died of "natural causes". The New York Times discovered an official military document labeling Dilawar's death as a "homicide". This official document was given to Dilawar's family in Afghanistan. No one was ever charged with his murder. There is not a single shred of evidence that Dilawar was ever involved in any nefarious activities- whether terrorist or otherwise. An autopsy revealed that Dilawar's legs were so severely beaten that, had he not passed away, both of his legs would need to be amputated.

This sobering story becomes a catalyst to discuss the abuses at Abu Gharib and the broad agenda of torture supported by the Bush Administration. The photos and interviews presented in this movie bring back the memories of everything that had been broken to the press. Forced nudity, prisoners being led around by dog leash, prisoners being subjected to barking dogs (in Arab culture, a dog is considered unclean), severe beatings, forced homosexual acts or masturbation, stress positions, water boarding, etc are a part of the activities forced upon detainees.

The film strings together interview after interview, and press conference after conference of administration officials including Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others demonstrably lying about their knowledge of these activities going on and lying about what they knew and when they knew it. Gibney interviews soldiers in prison (or who had been to prison), convicted of torturing detainees and this is when the truth of the matter comes out. Somehow, the soldiers who inflicted the torture are punished and sent to prison while the politicians who ordered these atrocities to occur still walk around free.

All of this and more is the epitome of injustice.

I know what some on the right wing will say. They will dismiss this film as some propaganda from the left wing. This is not some liberal film out to discredit conservative republicans. It is a fiery indictment of those who have supported and condoned torture, period. John McCain is shown in the film fighting for the military to adhere to the Geneva convention which condemns torture. In one scene, he is grilling military officials at a hearing, stating that their answers (and the convention itself) is too vague regarding treatment of detainees and needed to be more specifically defined. (The film alleges that McCain was threatened by members of the Bush administration regarding his stance against torture. The administration stated that if McCain did not agree with them, they would work to discredit him with conservatives.)

For the Christian, the issue of torture is clear. If all human beings are made in the image of God, as Genesis teaches, than torture is a devastating and egregious affront to the worth and dignity of a human being as given by God Himself.

"Taxi to the Dark Side" serves as a peaceful rallying cry. A plea to citizens to demand accountability from government officials who break the law without warrant. Citizens who should desire to have checks and balances for those who abuse and mistreat people. The vast majority of these people have not even been assigned their Habeas Corpus rights.

This documentary won the Oscar for best documentary feature of 2007. It deserves the award. This is an unforgettable film.