Day 13198 - Could it be that our national leadership's abandonment of traditional prohibitions against the use of torture is coming home to roost?

A man who was arrested by Orange County deputies was stripped of his pants, strapped to a chair, Tasered repeatedly while in handcuffs and slammed to the floor with a knee to his head, a newly released videotape shows.

Look, I understand that policemen have been beating and torturing suspects since the advent of law enforcement.

And, certainly, anyone who has watched an episode or two of Cops knows that, when confronted, drunk guys can - and often do - act like total assholes.

That said, it is impossible to ignore some of the more disturbing parallels between this incident and the American tomfoolery at another little jail house, called Abu Ghraib.

The tape begins with silent, black-and-white footage from a stationary security camera and then moves to colored footage with audio taken by a sheriff's deputy using a hand-held video recorder.

The first portion of the video shows Fleuret sitting handcuffed on a bench as he waits to be booked. A deputy walks up and appears to elbow Fleuret on the side of the head.

A few minutes later, the shirtless and handcuffed Fleuret is heard saying, "I didn't do nothing," and asks to see an attorney.

The video then shows two deputies escorting Fleuret down a hallway, but as they approach the doorway to a medical unit, Fleuret shouts "No," followed by an expletive. He begins to struggle and at least six deputies swarm him and wrestle him to the ground.

Someone commands "Tase him!" and "Tase him again!" as Fleuret screams. One deputy can be seen pinning his neck to the floor with his knee, while several other deputies appear to use their hands to hold his back and legs down.

Arrest and booking records show that deputies fired a stun gun at Fleuret at least 10 times in the county jail.

Fleuret repeatedly screams, "I can't breathe!" as a deputy urges him to relax.

"The more you resist, the worse it gets," the deputy says.

Fleuret is then dragged into the medical unit and someone pulls down his jeans. Several other deputies hoist him into a chair, secure straps across his chest and place a black, transparent hood over his head — a "spit guard" to keep him from spitting at deputies.

While a nurse examines him, Fleuret complains: "This ain't right, man."

So, let's recap: we have a hooded, half-naked man being restrained, beaten, repeatedly Tased and humiliated, while one of the men responsible for his lawful and humane treatment records in hi-def. Wow, that'll show those barbaric Muslim animals how a free country conducts itself - get Al-Jazeera on the line.

Oh, by the way:

(Fleuret) was not charged and was released within 24 hours... He has no criminal record...

This chain of events may sound familiar to a few folks who've been processed through 'Gitmo' or any of our fine secret prisons in Eastern Europe that await winners of the Extraordinary Rendition Home Game.

Bernard said Fleuret... was seriously injured and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"He's got rotator cuff injuries, he probably will need surgery," Bernard said. "He has damage to both wrists, he has a head injury, he's got a concussion, he's got visual problems."

I'm gonna have to agree with the defendant here - this ain't right man.

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Source: By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer - Thu Jan 24, 1:32 PM ET
Associated Press Writer Daisy Nguyen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.