Hitchens bitchslapped

One thing it can't do is give Christopher Hitchens any common sense or sufficient intestinal fortitude to at least back up his stupid posing and provocative behaviour. The short version of events is that Hitchens, while out on the town in Beruit, decided to deface a poster for what amounts to the Syrian Nazi Party, after being warned that these were not people to mess with. As luck would have it, a party goon happened to catch him in the act and there was an altercation. Hitchens being Hitchens is trying to make it sound like he heroically took a beating from cowardly evil thugs for bravely daring to stand up for freedom, but there appears to be another side to the the story.

"Even the one impressive detail first reported about the fight via Hitchens’ supporters–that he got stomped in the middle of the night, in a dark empty Beirut backalley, after getting famously drunk in a bar, fighting alone against a gang of Syran fascists–was an inversion of the truth, a very sad slapstick truth. In reality, Hitchens was stomped in broad daylight in a “posh shopping district” by a lone Syrian twerp fighting against Hitchens and two friends after they set him off."

Now, the other side of the story is based on this account on one of the least reliable dingbat wingnut sites, so take the details with an ocean-full of salt, but from the sounds of things, there was no brave standing-up-to-facism moment here, more like Hitchens' ego writing cheques his ass couldn't begin to cash.

Drowning on Dry Land

I dislike Christopher Hitchens for his knee jerk contrarianism and think he's a pompous ass most of the time, but I'll be the first to admit he puts words together very well even when doing so in the service of a stupid idea (see: Iraq, invasion of). With the possible exception of his remarks on the death of Jerry Fawell, his televison appearances usually make me want to smack him. Say what you like about the man, but this took some serious testicular fortitude.

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure.

Addendum: While I still think it took some cojones to volunteer to be tortured, especially a second time, I think Chet has it just about right when it comes to how much respect is owed to Hitchens for finally realizing that torture is torture, not an "enhanced interrogation technique" when his nose was literally rubbed in it.