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Tag(s): American Psychological Assoc; American Psychological Association; Detainees; Military; Military Torture; SERE; Senate Armed Services Committee; Senate Hearings; Torture; Torture; (more...) Waterboarding (less...)
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June 24, 2008 at 19:34:31

Headlined on 6/24/08:
The Torture Trainers and the American Psychological Association

by Stephen Soldz Page 3 of 3 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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"a... senior CIA lawyer, Jonathan Fredman, who was chief counsel to the CIA's CounterTerrorism Center, went to GTMO, attended a meeting of GTMO staff and discussed a memo proposing the use of aggressive interrogation techniques. That memo had been drafted by a psychologist and psychiatrist from GTMO who, a couple of weeks earlier, had attended the training given at Fort Bragg by instructors from the JPRA SERE school.

While the memo remains classified, minutes from the meeting where it was discussed are not. Those minutes (TAB 7) clearly show that the focus of the discussion was aggressive techniques for use against detainees." [emphasis added]

If this esteemed Board member had paid greater attention to these SASC hearings she would have discovered that they revealed the direct involvement of several psychologists in planning Guantanamo torture. Col. Morgan Banks, who had been appointed a member of the APA's PENS (Psychological Ethics and National Security ethics task force) was described by one of the SASC witnesses as requesting training in "exploitation... of detainees" from the military's SERE (Survival, Evasion, resistance, an Escape) program, which administered torture to US military personnel in case they were captured by a force that doesn't respect the Geneva Conventions.

But, most chillingly, at the SASC hearings, 63 pages of documents were released, including the minutes of an October 2, 2002 meeting at Guantanamo to develop torture strategy and techniques. Psychologist Maj. John Leso, a member of the Behavioral Science Consultation Team, and the psychologist described by Levin in the quote above, attended the meeting. According to these minutes, the BSCT proposed an approach to detainees based upon the following principles:

What's more effective than fear based strategies are camp-wide environmental strategies designed to disrupt cohesion and communication among detainees

The environment should foster dependence and compliance

Psychological stress = extremely effective (i.e., sleep deprivation, withholding food, isolation, loss of time)...

Disrupting the normal camp operations is vital, We need to create an environment of "controlled chaos"

It would appear that, to this esteemed APA Board member, creating an environment of "controlled chaos" designed to "foster dependence and compliance" and utilizing "sleep deprivation, withholding food, isolation, loss of time" constitutes objecting to torture. I'm sure most who paid attention to the evidence might conclude otherwise.

Unfortunately, to this date the APA has ignored multiple ethics complaints extending back several yers against Maj. Leso based upon his documented participation in the torture of Mohammed al-Qahtani, Guantanamo prisoner 063. Perhaps this esteemed colleague, rather than making unsubstantiated claims about supposed anti-torture activities, will push the organization to discipline this military psychologist who is documented to have participated in abuse.

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7 comments

Stephen Soldz is psychoanalyst, psychologist, public health researcher, and faculty member at the Institute for the Study of Violence of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He is a member of Roslindale Neighbors for Peace and Justice. He maintains the Psyche, Science, and Society blog.
Stephen SoldzStephen Soldz is psychoanalyst, psychologist, public health researcher, and faculty member at the Institute for the Study of Violence of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He is a member of Roslindale Neighbors for Peace and Justice. He maintains the Psyche, Science, and Society blog.

Sad

It's so sad tat articles like this continue to be necessary. Perhaps one of these days the APA will stop covering for the militry-intelligence establishment and return to its humanistic roots. Until then, I'll have to continue writting.

by Stephen Soldz (69 articles, 0 quicklinks, 55 diaries, 23 comments) on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 7:45:10 PM

Dave is a freethinker currently living in Colorado. He promises to someday make his bio either more informative or more entertaining.
Dave WheelerDave is a freethinker currently living in Colorado. He promises to someday make his bio either more informative or more entertaining.

Much appreciated

Put that way, I look forward to the day I don't read your writings anymore! :)

Keep up the good work - it's good to know you and others are making a stand against the APA's position. I look forward even more to the day they remember ethics and the government has one less justification for barbaric behavior.

by Dave Wheeler (2 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 19 comments) on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 1:14:27 AM

Darren Wolfe is the former Eastern Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Puerto Rico and lived in Venezuela for seven years, including the first year of Chavez' rule. His articles have appeared in OpEdNews.com, the Libertarian Penn, and the Nolanchart.com. News services such as the New York Post.com and Rational Review have published links to his work.

Anyone interested in a good game of chess can challenge me below, if you dare. LOL

http://...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Darren WolfeDarren Wolfe is the former Eastern Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Puerto Rico and lived in Venezuela for seven years, including the first year of Chavez' rule. His articles have appeared in OpEdNews.com, the Libertarian Penn, and the Nolanchart.com. News services such as the New York Post.com and Rational Review have published links to his work.

Anyone interested in a good game of chess can challenge me below, if you dare. LOL

http://...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Please read my diary entry:

Why They Torture

by Darren Wolfe (7 articles, 191 quicklinks, 104 diaries, 765 comments) on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 8:58:35 PM

Wolfie

THE FIRST TO ASSIST THE NAZIS IN THEIR HOLOCAUST WERE DOCTOR

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

There are some good ones among them, too few I would believe to make

a difference.

Instead of relieving suffering, those going in the profession are more

likely ones who enjoy adding to it.

Doctor, heal thyself!

by Wolfie (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 33 diaries, 1208 comments) on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 1:56:58 PM

Kent State, Graduate work in philosophy of logic, of science, Ph.D. SIU neuroscientist, forensic neuropsychologist, PostDoc Medical College of Ohio, Preferred activities: Restoring British motorcycles, cars, Matchless, Austin Healey, Triumph, Jaguar, building an engine, programming a computer. Other stuff: SDS 1968, antiwar,911 truth advocate, anticorporatist, anti-classist, anti-neocon, pissed off. Best thing: Father. Blessed.
richardKent State, Graduate work in philosophy of logic, of science, Ph.D. SIU neuroscientist, forensic neuropsychologist, PostDoc Medical College of Ohio, Preferred activities: Restoring British motorcycles, cars, Matchless, Austin Healey, Triumph, Jaguar, building an engine, programming a computer. Other stuff: SDS 1968, antiwar,911 truth advocate, anticorporatist, anti-classist, anti-neocon, pissed off. Best thing: Father. Blessed.

Actually, psychology (nor medicine) is not Evil Incarnate...

With respect to psychologists (of which I am one) are, if they are in private practice, they are pretty universally dedicated to the welfare of their patients (clients). Almost all of my time is spent providing therapeutic intervention, evaluation, and case management (for which I do not get paid). I also see vets and co. for free for a few hours per week (signed up recently and got my first patient scheduled for next week).

But psychologists in practice (with respect to those I know personally, are terribly naive. They have bought into the official memes and are loath to question their own presuppositions. If any groups has well-developed defenses against cognitive dissonance, it is folks in this profession. ;-) Most of them simply don't 'get it'

Research psychologists are typically doing basic research in universities just like every other science.

But... and these are big nasty butts... I believe many social and cognitive psychologists support the efforts of the shadow gov and other portions of the FBI, CIA, NSA and so forth.

Futher, the APA is a corrupt organization as it exists now. They have forgotten our humanist, caring origins... and now, with respect to its neocon management, work towards the enslavement of humankind. Maybe some are simply ensorcelled by the fake war on terror meme - in which case I disdain them; but some are likely complicit... in which case... I condemn them to the same fate as those professionals who supported Nazism..

Screw the APA. It has lost any credibility or decency to me. It teeters on becoming but one more part of the general evil we all are fighting.

by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 868 comments) on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 8:58:15 PM