Royal Torture

Just as the UAE is boosting it imports of military hardware from the US (making this country with a population of less than 5 million the third largest importer of arms after China and India), ABC News published a video showing brutal torture that took place in UAE in October or November 2004. This is really disturbing stuff, making most of the torture videos that surfaced in Egypt in recent years look like kids' play. And here's the best part: the main perpetrator is a member of the royal family! The interior ministry on the other hand "did not characterize the abuse in question as torture, but simply as an assault that the parties subsequently settled 'privately,'" according to a statement from HRW.

Two predictions: 1) The royal sheikh in question will not be prosecuted. 2) This affair will not significantly affect the relationship between this US-allied regime and its' friends in Washington.