Monday, March 29, 2010 Torture "an experiment," officials allege
Jason Leopold, in a new Truthout piece on the diaries of Abu Zubaydeh, provides further evidence that the CIA was explicitly conducting research through its enhanced interrogation program.
Friday, January 1, 2010 The creation of a new "disease," osteopenia, to sell Merck's Fosamax (3 comments)
NPR recently had an amazing story by Alix Spiegel of how pharmaceutical company Merck help turn a research term, osteopenia, into a diagnosis "treated," often ineffectively, by Merck's drug Fosamax.
Friday, December 11, 2009 Every Afghan airstrike kills the same number of "insurgents"
Anyone who paid close attention to the Iraq war knows that it was not just the Bush administration that routinely lied about the war. For virtually all claims made by the US military on contentious matters later turned out to be false.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Obama official responsible for detainee affairs leaves suddenly (3 comments)
Following the resignation of White House Counsel Greg Craig, another Obama administration official involved in detainee policy and sympathetic to human rights is resigning "for personal reasons."
Monday, October 5, 2009 Government admits al Qahtani's torture was videotaped
In one of the Guantanamo habeas hearings, the government has admitted that it videotaped the interrogation of Mohammed al Qahtani in 2002-2003.
Monday, August 17, 2009 Further details on SERE-JPRA role in development of CIA torture
In a 3-part series at Firedoglake, Jeff Kaye adds to our picture of the development of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program by taking a closer look at the other shareholders of Mitchell Jessen, and Associates. As has been previously noted by Kaye, all of them had long connections with the SERE program and with JPRA [Joint Personnel Recovery Agency], the SERE parent agency.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 APA referendum authors: Don't let democracy die in committee (1 comments)
In the lead up to the American Psychological Association convention in Toronto tomorrow, where the struggle against APA cover for psychologist participation in human rights abuses will continue for yet another year, the authors of last year's referendum -- adopted by 59% of voting members -- that condemned psychologist participation in detention sites outside of or in violation of international law, have issued an appeal to the membership to prevent the referendum's murder by committee:
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 Letter to Senate on health effects of indefinite detention (2 comments)
The Center for Victims of Torture, the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, and Physicians for Human Rights have sent the following letter to Congress regarding the health effects of indefinite detention:
Saturday, May 9, 2009 New York Times: Definition of "torture' depends upon who did it, not what was done (2 comments)
The New York Times has done excellent reporting and editorializing on US torture at times. Only they have steadfastly refused to call it "torture," arguing against critics that to use the "t" word would be to lose their objectivity.
Saturday, May 2, 2009 Psychologists for an Ethical APA calls for American Psychological Association investigation and resigations (5 comments)
Psychologists for an Ethical APA has sent to following letter to the American Psychological Association's President and CEO, joining the call, initiated by Psychologists for Social Responsibility last week, for an independent investigation of "psychologists and psychological organizations" [read "APA"] complicit in abuse:
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 Official kidnapping: Lawrence Wilkerson says Guantanamo contained many known to be innocent (6 comments)
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, has written a new piece Some Truths About Guantanamo Bay. In it Wilkerson describes some of the dirty secrets of the prison. Among these are the almost total absence of screening of who went there, the incredible lack of care in keeping records for possible criminal prosecution, and efforts within the administration to change some of these problems early on, efforts that were stymied by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney.
Monday, March 2, 2009 Controvertial Bush Office of Legal Counsel memos released
In one positive action from the Obama Justice Department, they have just released a number of the controversial memos from the Bush administration Office of Legal Counsel [where John Yoo was located].
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Support the Gaza Community Mental Health Program
For those who would like to respond to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, one way is to offer financial support the Gaza Community Mental Health Program. Psychologists for Social Responsibility has issued the following appeal for support for the GCHP. We are also looking for other organizations to join a Coalition to support this effort. So far, Div 39 S9 (Psychoanalysts for Social Responsibility) and the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology have joined.
Saturday, January 17, 2009 FAQ on Gaza (1 comments)
Stephen Shalom has an indispensable Question and Answer on Gaza over at ZNet. It is too long to post here (it prints out at 36 pages), so make sure to go and read it. As with anything written by Stephen, it is impeccably documented with 138 references.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 Cautionary letter to American Psychological Association President Kazdin
Jean Maria Arrigo and Mike Wessells, two members of the American Psychological Association's infamous PENS task force (Psychological Ethics and National Security), have written to letter to APA President Kazdin warning of the dangers of repeating PENS flaws in the process of the Implementation Committee for the recently passed APA referendum banning psychologists working in detention centers operating outside of or in violation of international law or the Constitution. [Daily Kos blogger and psychologist Valtin has provided his take on the Implementation Committee in a new post.]:
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Republicans run torturer as Congressional candidate (1 comments)
It takes Johann Hari in the British newspaper the Independent to inform us that the Republicans are running a know torturer for Congress in Florida.
Monday, September 15, 2008 Urgent Action Alert! Call Senators to demand end to secret prisons! (1 comments)
This Tuesday the Senate is expected to vote upon Amendment Number 5369 to the Defense Authorization Bill that would mandate that the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] have access to all US detainees, including those held in secret prisons by the CIA or other intelligence agencies.
Thursday, September 11, 2008 WNYC on Psychologists and Torture
WNYC had a devoted a portion of the Leonard Lopate show today to the issue of psychologists in interrogations. [No, I was not on it.] Here is the program description:
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 WUNC The State of Things interview: Torture and Interrogation Symposium
I was interviewed today, along with law professor Scott Silliman, by Frank Stasio on WUNC, North Carolina Public Radio, on the show The State of Things. Here is the program description:
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 An Obama suuporter argues for seating the Florida primary delagates (1 comments)
Robert Shapiro has written an interesting data-driven post from the perspective of "an Obama Supporter" on Talking Points Memo about why he thinks the Florida Democratic primary votes should be officially counted. I've summarized here the essence of the argument:
Monday, April 28, 2008 Almerindo Ojeda: Guantánamo healthcare providers serve interrogators
Recent revelations raise questions about the role of health providers at US detention facilities. Thus, the Washington Post reported that detainees are being involuntarily drugged. Almerindo Ojeda provides additional evidence that health providers at Guantánamo aided interrogators to the detriment of detainees.
Sunday, April 27, 2008 Yet another Justice Department rationale for torture
The Sunday New York Times brings new revelations of the Bush administration's ever-evolving legal rationale for torture. Like the hydra, lopping off one legal argument only leads to another. The only thing that remains constant is that the administration can do whatever it wants to those in CIA custody.
Sunday, April 20, 2008 Media military "analysis" more akin to psyops manipulation (2 comments)
The New York Times today published its blockbuster analysis of the Pentagon psyops program to manipulate public discourse on the Iraq war and related matters by creating a cadre of retired military officers pretending to be independent military analysts on TV. Since these analysts were lobbyists helping their clients get military contracts, they were dependent on close ties in the Pentagon. They understood that independent analysis could threaten their access.
Monday, April 7, 2008 Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility
As the school year winds toward its end, psychologist Neil Wolman reminds us of efforts of the Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility, including its annual Graduation Pledge:
Saturday, February 23, 2008 Swedish Journal of Psychology covers psychologists-interrogations issue
The Swedish Journal of Psychology has covered the role of psychologists, and the American Psychological Association in Bush administration interrogations. It includes an overview article by the Journal's editor, Eva Brita Järnefors and answered to question posed by her to APA and myself. The APA questions were answered by Rhea Farberman. I also answered a set of questions. With permission, I posted all three articles in English here. My original response was too long and was cut by the editor. I thus posted my original response after my published response. The original of all three articles is available as a pdf here.
Friday, January 4, 2008 Rep. Harman did not object to CIA torture, agency warned interrogations illegal
The Washington Post today continues its coverage of the CIA torture tapes destruction. They report that destruction of the evidence was planned from 2003, when Congresswoman Jane Harman objected. Of course, a close reading of her letter shows that Harman, didn't object to the torture depicted in the tape, but only to the possibility of the tapes' destruction, saying that destruction would "reflect badly" on the CIA, as it might destroy confirmation of interrogation records.
Thursday, November 29, 2007 APA President responds to dissident psychology department (1 comments)
Readers who have been following the struggle to change American Psychological Association policy allowing psychologists to participate in detainee interrogations will recall that a number of college psychology departments have passed a resolution asking the American Psychological Association to change its policy on psychologist participation in these interrogations. It appears that APA President Sharon Brehm, who never responded to the over 700 psychologists who signed an Open Letter to her last June, has changed her responded to the Earlham psychology department that began this movement. Here is Dr. brehm's letter and a response from Michael Jackson, Chair of the Earlham department:
Sunday, July 8, 2007 Charleston Gazette on APA, psychologists, and torture (2 comments)
The story of the role of psychologists and the American Psychological Association in the development and maintenance of the US torture regime is beginning to break through to the mainstream. Yesterday the Charleston [WV] Gazette editorialized on the issue:
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Psychiatrist protests Psychiatric Association report on Guantanamo visit (1 comments)
In January I posted an article by the new President of the American Psychiatric Association reporting on his trip to Guantanamo. In his article, President Pedro Ruiz commented favorably upon the meals served to detainees, but not upon the absence of fundamental human rights:
Thursday, May 17, 2007 The tale of Jo Wilding
A new article in the Guardian describes Jo Wilding, the women who took the circus to post-war Iraq in order to bring joy to Iraqi children.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 Strong support for torture among US military in Iraq: A corollary of occupation (1 comments)
A new survey of US military personnel in Iraq finds high rates of support for torture. Forty-one percent of soldiers in Iraq and 44% of marines agree that "Torture should be allowed if it will save the life of a Soldier/Marine" and 36% of soldiers and 39% of marines agree that "Torture should be allowed in order to gather important info about insurgents." Responses to another question give a sense of who, in the opinion of many occupation soldiers and marines, should be subject to torture: 17% of both soldiers and marines agree that "All non-combatants should be treated as insurgents."
Sunday, April 22, 2007 New archive on medical operations in America's detainee prisons (1 comments)
Bioethicist Steven Miles informs us that his web archive of documents related to the role of medicine (including psychology) in the United States detention centers around the world will be online Monday morning here.
Friday, April 6, 2007 Bioethicist Steven Miles responds to Michael Gelles on psychologists in interrogations
Yesterday I wrote about a new letter by former Navy psychologist Michael Gelles in which Gelles replied to those critical of psychologists participating in coercive national security interrogations at Guantanamo and elsewhere. Today noted bioethicist Steven Miles has also responded to Dr. Gelles.
Thursday, March 29, 2007 Zimbardo to speak in Cambridge MA on Lucifer Effect (1 comments)
Renowned scholar, writer, and speaker Dr. Phil Zimbardo, will speak about his new book, the Lucifer Effect, at MIT on April 2, 2007 and at Harvard Law School on April 3. Professor Zimbardo's talk will take its audience on a journey through the psychological processes of character transformation that are engaged when ordinary, good people turn into perpetrators of evil. The abuses and tortures of Abu Ghraib prison serve as the case study for understanding such horrors not as the work of a "few bad apples," but rather as the consequence of a set of identifiable Situational variables and Systemic forces - "the bad barrel" and "the bad barrel makers."
Thursday, March 15, 2007 US masters the art of political show trials
In Stalinist Russia it was common for political prisoners, after a suitable period of detention, to miraculously "confess" to all kinds of crimes. Of course, such practices were common during the Inquisition as well.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 Iraqi Prime Minister praises alleged rapists
Monday brought news of a Sunni Iraqi woman taking the unusual step of going public with her accusation that she wa raped by Iraqi security forces. This accusation created outrage among the Iraqi Sunni community, as can be seen in this post by Riverbend: The Rape of Sabrine...:
Monday, February 12, 2007 New strategy to fight American Psychological Association interrogations policy (1 comments)
I have exciting news for the fight to change the American Psychological Association's policy allowing psychologist participation in coercive national security interrogations. A group of us who have been active on the interrogations issue have decided to run Steven J. Reisner as a single issue candidate for APA President. We feel that a single issue candidacy is one of the best ways to press this urgent issue.
Sunday, January 28, 2007 New Pentagon--health professions PR offensive over Guantanamo
In November 2006 the Pentagon took the leadership of several health professional organizations to Guantanamo to show that the trains run all time and the detainees are being treated better than they deserve. On this trip were Gerald Koocher the outgoing President of the American Psychiatric Association and Pedro Ruiz the new President of the American Psychiatric Association.
Sunday, January 21, 2007 American Psychological Association Presidential candidates on coercive interrogations (5 comments)
During the campaign for the 2008 Presidency of the American Psychological Association the candidates were asked a series of questions, based on the most frequent submissions from members. One of these questions concerned APA policy toward psychologist participation in coercive interrogations. The question was:
Sunday, January 7, 2007 APA-FBI attacks on therapist confidentiality
Daily Kos diarist Valtin, a psychologist, has elucidated another aspect of the American Psychological Association's collaboration with the National Security State. [FBI & American Psych. Association Attack Patient Confidentiality] He documents a damning silence by the APA on FBI efforts to turn psychologists into spies, reporting on suspicious activities by people mentioned by therapist clients.
Saturday, December 30, 2006 Comments on the Saddam killing as the new year comes
Here are a few of the most valuable of the comments on the death of the popular America's dictator, who became the anti-American dictator and thus had to die:
Friday, December 22, 2006 American Psychological Association versus Army Colonel on the moral issue of our time (1 comments)
As the American Psychological Association (APA) continues its campaign of obstruction, deflection, and obfuscation in order to keep psychologists participating in "interrogations," aka torture, at Guantanamo and elsewhere, the APA President visited the prison camp there. Afterwards, the APA issued a Press Release to demonstrate to the world the organization's concerns about the human rights violations occurring there:
Friday, December 8, 2006 Iraq report: The farce is over
After months of waiting, Godot-like, for the Iraq Study Group Report that was to solve all problems, the report has already come and gone with nary a ripple on actual policy, according to a New York Times article. [Bush Expresses Caution on Key Points in Iraq Panel's Report] The Decider has decided that people will just go on dying as they are. The Decider has decided that even pretending to change would make him look weak:
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 Hamburger and global warming
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says, in a new report, that raising livestock are causing more greenhouse gases than does the entire transportation sector:
Saturday, November 18, 2006 UCLA defends Tasering student (2 comments)"Every society gets the torturers it deserves!"
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 National Day of Action on bottled water quality Corporate Accountability International, along with the Polaris Institute, and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) are conducting a National Day of Action around the unregulated state of bottled water. They are encouraging citizens to call the big three bottled water conglomerates (i.e., Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Nestles) and demand that they provide independent testing of their water's quality.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 Frist threatens to join "Talk for Torture" campaign
In a new first, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has threatened to filibuster the McCain-Graham-Warner bill because it doesn't authorize the CIA to continue torturing detainees, the Washington Post reports. Usually governments torture covertly, while denying all the while that they're doing so. The U.S. government is notorious for this, as hundreds of thousands of torture victims in Vietnam [Operation Phoenix], Iran, the Philippines, Indonesia, and throughout Latin America can attest.
Monday, July 24, 2006 Alan Dershowitz uses holocaust logic to defend Israel from war crimes charges
In what would be a new low, except that his moral reasoning always seeks the bottom, Alan Dershowitz argues in the Los Angeles Times that not all civilian lives are equal. Those who fail to get out of the way of the Israeli murder machine are "complicit" and are not to be counted among the innocent victims.
Monday, July 3, 2006 College to be returned to the elite
The Republicans are accomplishing one of their major goals, making college once again the preserve of the elite. They are moving rapidly to make it unaffordable to those great unwashed masses who deserve to be allowed to work at Walmart for minimum wages.
