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> They returned a US prisoner back to us recently, and he had been tortured to the point of being braindead. There was an assumption he was tortured, but the c

• darkpuma 7y ago
  When he was released, the North Koreans also sent over MRI scan data they'd taken of his brain. By all accounts he was missing substantial brain tissue, which is consistent with loss of blood to the brain. It's not known what caused that. There wasn't any apparent damage to his neck or skull. The North Koreans claim botulism did it, which certainly isn't impossible but neither is there any evidence for it. He may also have been waterboarded incompetently, causing him to nearly drown for real. That would explain the lack of apparent skull or neck injuries, and also the brain damage. > "Why would you state he had been tortured without any proof?" Proof? Proofs are for mathematics. In the real world we always deal with uncertainties. Is it certain that the North Koreans torture prisoners? No. But is it a likely enough possibility that we shouldn't bite our tongues and not comment on that likelihood? Of course. There is a lot of evidence for North Korea torturing people in the past, and there isn't a lot of reason to give them the benefit of the doubt.
• sdinsn 7y ago
  It's not an "assumption", it's supported by evidence and SMEs. Like I said, we have to use our brains and actually think about things instead of taking NK's word for everything.