Mr. Watt and Mr. Ashmore had at their disposal nothing like the evidence that might convince a jury that these statements had not been obtained by duress, or, rather, prevent the jury from using a suspicion of duress as an excuse for an acquittal.
A story in December 2002 by Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and Barton Gellman described the use of 'stress and duress' techniques at Bagram, and an article in The New York Times in March described the maltreatment of prisoners there.
No matter where he is on the floor, whether he is about to hit the ground or is 30 feet from the rim, Iverson believes in this heart-and-soul theme so much that he does not always use his head at the moment of duress.
"The hardened terrorist is mercilessly 'squeezed,' it is said, for information through the use of the old, more physically brutal and violent forms of duress [redacted]," states the cable, which did not criticize the use of torture.
And when the 79-year-old heroine of John Updike's latest novel Seek My Face says "God's non-existence is something I can't get used to, it seems unnatural", it seems the exact opposite of duress.
And, moreover, any piece of intelligence which is obtained under duress, through the use of abusive techniques, would be of questionable credibility, and additionally it would do more harm than good when it inevitably became known that abusive practices were used.
The political class has consciously and systemically used identity-politics to advance its material interests and undermine institution-building and nation-building; in moments of duress it has called on foreign powers to sustain its dominance.
Lawyers call this duress, and the sort of duress that one can anticipate being exerted by a partner to safeguard their assets is just the sort of argument that might well be used to escape the document later.
"He lives under a lot of duress.
