Stephen N. Xenakis is a medical doctor who retired from the U.S. army at the rank of brigadier general. Citing the interrogation logs obtained by Time magazine, he recounts the torture in 2002 and early 2003 of Mohammed al-Qahtani and a doctor who treated him for hypothermia, "in order to return him to his interrogators." This, of course, is an extreme test of the oath to "do no harm" but not the only medical dilemma doctors face in war,when even those who treat their own side's military men and women may be returning them to the possibility of re-injury or even death. It reminds me of the moral questions faced by those who assist in executions by legal injection. I think that an opinion piece can be good journalism. In this ... More »

This is an opinion piece about the participation of doctors and military medical officers in activities the Red Cross calls "tantamount to torture" and in clear violation of the basic code of medical ethics to "first do no harm." Its main flaw is a lack of sourcing or even providing any links (I would have liked to see for myself, for example, the Al Jazeera and the BBC reportage the author cites) -- but it's still well worth the read.

Considers an angle on the torture issue I was not aware of. This opinion piece makes a very compelling argument. Being an opinion piece, however, it is limited in it's journalistic value. I would look forward to longer treatment of this issue containing interviews with doctors, medical ethicists, etc.