the trauma of psychological torture
Almerindo E. Ojeda
PRAEGER
<p>It is, in some circles, called 
No-Touch Torture. Yet it brings pain and damage that can last a 
lifetime. Psychological torture techniques - which have a history of use
 by U.S. forces globally trailing far into the past beyond Guantanamo 
and Abu Ghraib - include a variety of methods from mock executions, 
severe humiliation, and mind-altering drugs, to forced self-induced 
pain, sensory disorientation including loud music and light control, and
 exploitation of personal or cultural phobias. It is no accident, for 
example, that Private Lynndie England was seen in Abu Ghraib pictures, 
which shocked the world, with Arab prisoners forced naked into a pile or
 led like dogs by leash. Arabs have strong spiritual beliefs about the 
humiliation of public nudity, and also have a strong cultural fear of 
dogs. These techniques are neither surprising nor particular to England 
if one has fair knowledge of the U.S. history of sanctioned 
psychological torture techniques, say the experts behind this book. 
Having reached a joint crescendo of intolerance and horror, scholars 
from across the nation met in 2006 for a conference on psychological 
torture and what can be done to stop the practice. They agree with 
Alberto Mora, the U.S. Navy's general counsel, who fought to stop the 
Pentagon-sanctioned psychological torture at Guantanamo. Cruelty 
disfigures our national character. Where cruelty exists, law does not, 
Mora said. This book is the joint effort of those scholars, from the 
University of California Center for the Study of Human Rights in the 
Americas, to Harvard Medical School, to paint a clear picture of 
psychological torture, its longterm affects, and spur action to stop the
 practice.</p><p>The distinctly American form of psychological 
torture has four characteristics that make it attractive to the CIA and 
other supporters, say the authors. It is elusive - lacks the clear signs
 of physical abuse so eludes detection and complicates investigation, 
prosecution, or attempts at prohibition. It is shrouded - in scientific 
patina that makes it appeal to policy makers and avoids the obvious 
physical brutality unpalatable to the general public. It is adaptable - 
as shown by searing innovations by the CIA across 40 years. And it is 
destructive - can cause psychosis and other psychological disorders or, 
in more severe cases, death. While, in public, U.S. officials spotlight 
and support legislation that has banned physical torture, far more 
clandestine political, military, and CIA activities are refining and 
increasing the use of psychological torture. This book includes a brief 
history of sanctioned psychological experiments and actions to torture, 
as well as CIA research outsourced to leading U.S. universities that 
produced what the authors call key findings that led to the first real 
revolution in the cruel science of pain in centuries. Historical 
information here includes a summary of a decade of mind-control research
 by the CIA that in 1963 resulted in the KUBARK Counterintelligence 
Interrogation manual. This volume represents a striking collaboration of
 distinguished psychologists, psychiatrists, neurobiologists, lawyers, 
historians, and a semanticist. The book closes with case studies of the 
psychological torture of Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged 20th hijacker 
in the 9/11 attacks, and of Salim Hamdan, the alleged driver of Osama 
bin Laden. This work will be absorbing to any reader interested in human
 rights, covert politics now and across history, military science, 
psychology, or psychiatry.</p>