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June 24, 2008 at 19:34:31
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 6/24/08: by Stephen Soldz Page 1 of 3 page(s) |
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The CIA's Torture Teachers, psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen [see Eban and Mayer for a reminder of their work], are in the news again. In a front page New York Times article on the interrogation of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, it is mentioned that the subject of the story, Deuce Martinez is now employed by the dynamic torture firm: His life today is quiet by comparison with the secret interrogations of 2002 and 2003. But Mr. Martinez has not turned away entirely from his old world. He now works for Mitchell & Jessen Associates, a consulting company run by former military psychologists who advised the C.I.A. on the use of harsh tactics in the secret program. And his new employer sent Mr. Martinez right back to the agency. For now, the unlikely interrogator of the man perhaps most responsible for the horrors of 9/11 teaches other C.I.A. analysts the arcane art of tracking terrorists. As Katherine Eban explaines what was so distinctive about this firm:
Mitchell and Jessen reverse-engineered the tactics inflicted on sere trainees for use on detainees in the global war on terror, according to psychologists and others with direct knowledge of their activities. The C.I.A. put them in charge of training interrogators in the brutal techniques, including "waterboarding," at its network of "black sites."
They exemplified the CIA's humane treatment of detainees:
Mitchell had a tougher approach in mind. The C.I.A. interrogators explained that they were going to become Zubaydah's "God." If he refused to cooperate, he would lose his clothes and his comforts one by one. At the safe house, the interrogators isolated him. They would enter his room just once a day to say, "You know what I want," then leave again.
As Zubaydah clammed up, Mitchell seemed to conclude that Zubaydah would talk only when he had been reduced to complete helplessness and dependence. With that goal in mind, the C.I.A. team began building a coffin in which they planned to bury the detainee alive.
It seems that the coffin may not in the end have been used.
So Deuce Martinez, so according to the Times followed torture sessions with "rapport-based" session, getting KSM to talk. They report that he turned down a CIA offer of specialized training in the "enhanced interrogation techniques," aka torture, not because he objected but because he believed his talents lay elsewhere.As Eban explians, that training would have been with the torture duo:
Interrogators who were sent for classified training inevitably wound up in a Mitchell-Jessen "shop," and some balked at their methods. Instead of the careful training touted by President Bush, some recruits allegedly received on-the-job training during brutal interrogations that effectively unfolded as live demonstrations.
The very fact that he accepted employment with the nation's premier torture firm indicates that he had no ethical qualms about the Mitchell-Jessen approach.
The American Psychological Association has a long relationship with Mitchell and Jessen. Their firm was authorized to give APA Continuing Education credits, though rumor indicates that may no longer be the case:
Mitchell, Jessen, and Associates, LLC (MJA) is an executive consulting firm specializing in the area of understanding, predicting, and improving performance in high-risk and extreme situations. MJA develops specialized assessment and selection programs for high-risk occupations, devises and conducts tailored training for related, high-risk programs, and is additionally approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing professional education for psychologists.
After the Mitchell-Jessen directed torture of Abu Zubaydah resulted in numerous false leads that wasted thousands of hours of law enforcement time, the CIA together with the APA and the Rand Corporation conducted an invitation-only workshop on the Science of Deception, Mitchell, Jessen, and their likely CIA supervisor, Kirk Hubbard, were invited. Many APA leaders were likely also there, so it strains credulity that they are not intimately aware of Mitchell and Jessen's work. Interestingly, the APA leadership has conveniently "lost" the attendance list.
As a further indication of APA's connection to the CIA's torture firm, one of the five "governing people" on the torture firm's Board is former American Psychological Association President, Joseph Matarazzo. The APA is intensely disturbed by President Matzrazzo's possible involvement in torture as can be gleamed from these ethically-principled quotes from APA leadership when Matzrazzo's involvement was revealed last summer:
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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| 7 comments |
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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 (93 articles, 0 quicklinks, 68 diaries, 50 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008 at 7:45:10 PM  (0+)
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Reply: 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, 3 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008 at 1:14:27 AM (0+)
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Please read my diary entry:
by Darren Wolfe (15 articles, 400 quicklinks, 141 diaries, 1031 comments [84 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008 at 8:58:35 PM (0+)
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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, Jun 25, 2008 at 1:56:58 PM (0+)
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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, 1359 comments [400 recommended, 8 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008 at 8:58:15 PM (0+)
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Reply: RICHARD, I AM ENSORCELLED WITH COOL WORDS!
And cool people such as you. Why are the best and the brightest no less asinine than the dumb doggies like me? Do we fail to teach our offspring morality and caring? No child left behind should test for goodness and support rather than rote mechanistic detritus. by Wolfie (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 33 diaries, 1208 comments) on Thursday, Jun 26, 2008 at 1:29:43 AM (0+)
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Reply: Always loved the word
'detritus' but every time I see it, I cannot remember how to pronounce it... ;-) by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1359 comments [400 recommended, 8 rejected]) on Thursday, Jun 26, 2008 at 6:09:27 AM (0+)
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