Poinari Citadel
Ottoman Invasions of Romania
Vlad Tepes III engaged in torture, to preserve law and order, for which his citizens were grateful, and to fend off the invading Ottomans, for which his citizens were also grateful. Biography: at http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/easteurope/Dracula.CP.html His form of impalement was the Persian, through-the chest-breastbone area, judging from the woodcuts. See, if you must, http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Impalement
That worked for about 40 years. He is revered in Romania, as far as we could tell. See post. Still, his tactics did not last. The drastic measures just gave a reprieve until the Turks regrouped and came again. See Romania Road Ways
Needed now:
Put the history of Romania and its reputation for torture and political repression in perspective. What uses do cultures make of pain, by whom, against whom, and why. Are we so far removed. Is impersonal use of agent orange, or napalm, any more moral than impalement just because the victims of napalm are, or become faceless; and impalement is highly personal. Extreme interrogations: are those so much verbiage for torture but on an individual level -- any less worse?
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