The Psychology of Abu Ghraib

by **professorpan** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:11 am

The Psychology of Abu Ghraib Elite Thought and Iraqi Prisoner Abuse <a href="http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/abughraib.html">www.paranoiamagazine.com/abughraib.html</a> An interesting analysis -- worth checking out.

by **rain** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 2:52 am

Suspect's tale of travel and torture Alleged bomb plotter claims two and a half years of interrogation under US and UK supervision in 'ghost prisons' abroad Stephen Grey and Ian Cobain Tuesday August 2, 2005 Guardian A former London schoolboy accused of being a dedicated al-Qaida terrorist has given the first full account of the interrogation and alleged torture endured by so-called ghost detainees held at secret prisons around the world. For two and a half years US authorities moved Benyam Mohammed around a series of prisons in Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan, before he was sent to Guantánamo Bay in September last year. Mohammed, 26, who grew up in Notting Hill in west London, is alleged to be a key figure in terrorist plots intended to cause far greater loss of life than the suicide bombers of 7/7. One allegation, which he denies, is of planning to detonate a "dirty bomb" in a US city; another is that he and an accomplice planned to collapse a number of apartment blocks by renting ground-floor flats to seal, fill with gas from cooking appliances, and blow up with timed detonators. In an statement given to his newly appointed lawyer, Mohammed has given an account of how he was tortured for more than two years after being questioned by US and British officials who he believes were from the FBI and MI6. As well as being beaten and subjected to loud music for long periods, he claims his genitals were sliced with scalpels. He alleges that in Morocco he was shown photos of people he knew from a west London mosque, and was asked about information he was told was supplied by MI5. One interrogator, he says, was a woman who said she was Canadian. Drawing on his notes, Mohammed's lawyer has compiled a 28-page diary of his torture. This has been declassified by the Pentagon, and extracts are published in the Guardian today. Recruits to some groups connected to al-Qaida are thought to be instructed to make allegations of torture after capture, and most of Mohammed's claims cannot be independently verified. But his description of a prison near Rabat closely resembles the Temara torture centre identified in a report by the US-based Human Rights Watch last October. Furthermore, this newspaper has obtained flight records showing executive jets operated by the CIA flew in and out of Morocco on July 22 2002 and January 22 2004, the dates he says he was taken to and from the country. If true, his account adds weight to concerns that the US authorities are torturing by proxy. It also highlights the dilemma of British authorities when they seek information from detainees overseas who they know, or suspect, are tortured. The lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, says: "This is outsourcing of torture, plain and simple. America knows torture is wrong but gets others to do its unconscionable dirty work. "It's clear from the evidence that UK officials knew about this rendition to Morocco before it happened. Our government's responsibility must be to actively prevent the torture of our residents." Mohammed was born in Ethiopia and came to the UK aged 15 when his father sought asylum. After obtaining five GCSEs and an engineering diploma at the City of Westminster College in Paddington, he decided to stay in Britain when his father returned, and was given indefinite leave to remain. In his late teens he rediscovered Islam, prayed regularly at al-Manaar mosque in Notting Hill, and was a volunteer at its cultural centre. "He is remembered here as a very nice, quiet person, who never caused any trouble," says Abdulkarim Khalil, its director. He enjoyed football, and was thought good enough for a semi-professional career. "He was a quiet kid, he seemed deep thinking, although that might have been because his language skills weren't great," says Tyrone Forbes, his trainer. In June 2001 Mohammed left his bedsit off Golborne Road, Notting Hill, and travelled to Afghanistan, via Pakistan. He maintains he wanted to see whether it was "a good Islamic country or not". It appears likely that he spent time in a paramilitary training camp. He returned to Pakistan sometime after 9/11, and remained at liberty until April 2002 - during which time, US authorities believe, he became involved in the dirty bomb and gas blast plots. His alleged accomplice, a Chicago-born convert to Islam, Jose Padilla, is detained in the US. Mohammed says interrogators repeatedly demanded he give evidence against him. Mohammed was arrested in Karachi while trying to fly to Zurich - and thus entered a "ghost prison system" in which an unknown number of detainees are held at unregistered detention centres, and whose imprisonment is not admitted to the International Committee of the Red Cross. His brother and sisters, who live in the US, say the FBI told them of his arrest in summer 2002, but they were unable to find out anything else until last February. In recent days the Bush administration is reported to have lobbied to block legislation, supported by some Republican senators, to prohibit the military engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment", and hiding prisoners from the Red Cross. Mohammed alleges he was held at two prisons in Pakistan over three months, hung from leather straps, beaten, and threatened with a firearm by Pakistanis. In repeated questioning by men he believes were FBI agents, he was told he was to go to an Arab country because "the Pakistanis can't do exactly what we want them to". The torture stopped after a visit by two bearded Britons; he believes they were MI6 officers. He says they told him he was to be tortured by Arabs. At one point, he says, they gave him a cup of tea and told him to take plenty of sugar because "where you're going you need a lot of sugar". He says he was flown on what he believes was a US aircraft to Morocco, while shackled, blindfolded and wearing earphones. It was, he says, in a jail near Rabat that his real ordeal began. After a fortnight of questioningand intimidation, his captors tortured him with beatings and noise, on and off, for 18 months. He says his torturers used scalpels to make shallow, inch-long incisions on his chest and genitals. Throughout, he was accused of being a senior al-Qaida terrorist and accomplice of Padilla. He denies these allegations, though he says that while tortured he would say whatever he thought his captors wanted. He signed a statement about the dirty bomb plot. At one point, he says, interrogators told him his GCSE grades, and asked about named staff at the housing association that owns his bedsit and about a man who taught him kickboxing in Notting Hill. After 18 months, he says, he was flown to Afghanistan, escorted by masked US soldiers who were visibly shocked by his condition and took photos of his wounds. During five months in a darkened cell in Kabul, he says he was kept chained, subjected to loud music, and questioned by Americans. Only after he was moved to Bagram air base was he shown to the Red Cross. Four months later he was flown to Guantánamo. Mr Stafford Smith was first allowed to see him two months ago. He said there were marks of his injuries, and he is pressing the US to release the photos taken in Morocco and Afghanistan. Asked about the allegations, the Foreign Office said the UK "unreservedly condemns the use of torture". After consulting with the Home Office, MI5, and MI6, a spokesman said: "The British government, including the security and intelligence services, never uses torture for any purpose. Nor would HMG instigate or condone the use of torture by third parties. "Specific instructions are issued to all personnel of the UK security and intelligence services who are deployed to interview detainees, which include guidance on what to do if they considered that treatment in any way inappropriate." The FBI, the US justice department, the Moroccan interior ministry and the Moroccan embassy in London did not return calls. The CIA declined to comment. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

by **Starman** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 6:14 am

Goodly God; This sez it all: "In recent days the Bush administration is reported to have lobbied to block legislation, supported by some Republican senators, to prohibit the military engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment", and hiding prisoners from the Red Cross." While the Brits repeat the same tired refrain, ie., 'We condemn torture blah-blah laws against blah-blah promptly report blah-blah never uses blah-blah specific instructions blah-blah are deployed to interview blah-blah include guidance on what to do blah-blah ..." While the CIA and unnamed US officials refuse to comment. "Just doing our jobs, maam." Someone said it before -- seems our 'own' soldiers/agents are being programmed to be perp-victims here, with MI-6 and CIA agents and no-doubt 'private' Intel mercenaries to get-around the law -- But how could military officials kidnap and deliver a suspect to foreign prisons without knowing what's going down? What an incredible diversion of resources to perpetuate such crimes which likely have been done to hundreds of people -- background checks on early boarding schools and all, how thorough! If anything was ever designed to elicit outrage and enlist terrorists to confront such rotton evil that effectively makes a mockery of humanitarian law, this system of rendition must be it. It's been shown that a lot of so-called enemy combatants were nothing more than passing strangers in Pakistan and Afganistan and elsewhere, who were sold for liberal bounties offered by US stooges with bulging suitcases of cash -- what a system. Lack of accountability is built-in as each person just does a small bit of the whole reprehensible job. Machiavelli would be proud! (Another hidden Rovian feature? Certainly very Straussian, anyway. Sure hope Karma isn't nearsighted!) Starman

by **antiaristo** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 7:59 am

Hi Starman, The quote on which we should all focus is that of General Geoffrey Miller, brought from Gitmo to Abu Ghraib. He said his job is "to set the conditions..." They don't issue orders anymore. They create an environment from which the desired human behaviour simply emerges. Pure Tavistock Institute. I first noticed this mo in the English legal system. The highest rank of advocacy is the Queens Counsel (QC). The QC is a paid advocate. The QC has the power to deputise as a High Court judge. I was confronted by a QC in court. (Philip Shepherd) When I beat him he got a "friend" to issue the Court Order under which I was to be held, then kicked to death. (John Rogers QC). Check out my two letters to Janet Reno in the Data Dump. They were written BEFORE I found out about the trap that had been set for me in April 2000.

by **hmm** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:59 am

Something that has always intrigued me,seeing the human as a system,machine,or "animal". To those that push the right buttons to get the right response it matters little whats in the "black box" inbetween,and if its a soul or a mind. All "they" care about is the end result. It might be helpful to remind oneself that the elites might see us as little more than animals to start with.. If you look at things this way the parallels with "mind control" are striking. if you search the web for cues and "set the conditions" you get results ranging from "bonding with your newborn" to modern battlefield tactics. Much of the study of behavior was done using animals and forms part of the "scientific" basis of the field of psychology. The discussion of "mind control" in the setting of animal behavior is alot less controversial than in other settings. Its not light reading but informative if you can accept that it doesnt matter for the "button pusher" whats inbetween the stimulus and the response as their interest only lies in effect. <a href="http://education.indiana.edu/~p540/webcourse/behave.html#notes">education.indiana.edu/~p5...html#notes</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ope...nditioning</a>

by **Starman** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:46 pm

Hi Antiaristo and Hmm: Again, these comments get me thinking along the lines of how the State Dept. and US Foreign Policy essentially set the conditions for defrauding dozens of developing nations, enlisting 'friendly' and corruptable leaders or removing more-principled leaders and installing their hand-picked officials who then signed-off on the economic 'development' schemes promoted by the State Dept. and with IMF/World Bank and other NGO bodies, enlisting western corporations and cut-outs (as John Perkins reveals in his limited-hangout tour-de-force 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' throughout the 60s-80s (and since in newer, more innovative ways), constructing elaborate, massive public-works projects that have minimal actual benefits to the nation's peoples but served the interests of multinationals and especially International Banks, placing the nations under tremendous debt-obligations so that, for instance, Ecuador spends nearly 50 percent of its GDP just paying-off its ruinous loans -- obligations that place these nations under the control and manipulation of US State Dept. and its proxies, being forced to accept liberal privatization and readjustment measures that further impoverishes the peoples and makes these nations a net exporter of valuable resources and products -- a kind of global debt-peonage. One almost has to admire the ruthless efficiency and effectiveness of such a hidden system of power and government-by-proxy. One could, and in a truly 'just' world should, argue that these 'leaders' who facilitated such enormous scams in return for bribes and the privelege of power, were NOT legitimate, and so these loans should not have to be honored by the people who were defrauded, and which has seriously impeded constructive, productive development increasing the nations standards of living instead of further exacerbating wealth disparity. Just goes to show how tremndously corrupt the whole global system is, put in-place mainly by the US and global elites and using every 'trick' in the book of coercion and manipulation and covert mind-control there is, using threats and subterfuge, sabotage and honey-pot entrapment, subversion of genuine democratic institutions, political assasinations and bribes and kick-backs, intimidation and blackmail -- whatever trick needed (some of which Perkins discusses). This is the kind of thing Walt Churchill was describing in his comment that the WTC technocrats of empire were acting as little Eichmans. Realistically, I don't see how the system is going to change for the better -- unless perhaps a sufficiently-large disruption occurs that causes all nations to reassess their own interests and disentagle themselves from the web of obligations and dependencies and subject relations with major world powers, and/or realign themselves in strategic political and international agreements so their people's interests are better met -- the very thing US officials are now seemingly concerned about with China and the Pacific Rim nations and India making trade and security agreements with Latin America, where anti-US sentiment over a long history of betrayals and exploitation is deep and bitter. The enormity of US duplicity (and other actors, but the US is arguably the biggest player and most implicated in perpetuating ruinous frauds that have enabled the US to create such a self-indulgent consumerist utopia, where 4 percent of the world's population uses some 25 percent of the world's energy resources and which Americans have been conditioned to expect, even to the extent of launching foreign wars of conquest to preserve, justifying it as 'defending' the American Way of Life, or alternatively, defending American Values -- with little to NO awareness of the larger picture -- no accident that US schools have phased-out the study of geography, it seems intended to keep the bulk of Americans anesthisized to knowledge of other peoples, and with lack of knowledge lack of concern and empathy and understanding are facilitated. Sorry to run afield like this. I just wanted to point out another likely use for what's implied in the kind of conspiracy of setting the conditions for defrauding other nations -- where those who are most responsible are so deeply hidden and imbedded in an elaborate, extensive bureaucracy, and their acts hidden in deeply-classified National Security archives -- the kind of thing it would take an extensive secret shadow government with its own black budget to 'manage', having access to resources within every governemntal agency and semi-official global-power organization and Intelligence networks and from within the ranks of the Pentagon, the White House and even Congress -- ie., the Octopus that Danny Casolaro died trying to expose. This is a pretty frightening image of how thoroughly ordinary people have been made insignificant and disenfranchised by the Powers That Be, forcefed a myth of being part of a dynamic self-ruling Government By, OF and FOR The People, which graciously 'helps' the poor impoverished people of the world, without being told up-front how US policies have helped MAKE many of those people poor and impoverished, crippled and betrayed by corrupt 'leaders' that the US brought into power and/or corrupted. Proldic (sorry if I misspelled -- I have a hard time remembering this spelling) recently posted a hard-hitting article on how extensive disinfo-propaganda was disseminated by CIA-front and enlisted academics throughout the 60 and 70s (and later, no doubt), who wrote histories and articles that promoted the fable of American generosity and benevolence as cover for actual policies of subversion and promoting conflict, endorsing Autocrats and ruthless despots who were enlisted to 'fight' Communism and otherwise grant favors and help promote US economic and strategic interests. -- Which is part of the whole perilous paradigm-shifting Rabbit Hole thang of Things NOT As They Seem that all rigorous Truthseekers have to individually confront and challenge. Heck, this has become a bit of Rant, eh? Oh well ... Keep oN! Starman <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smokin.gif ALT=":smokin"> Re: Opening Introduction to the Article: Dictators Supported by the US Government <a href="http://www.omnicenter.org/warpeacecollection/dictators.htm">www.omnicenter.org/warpea...tators.htm</a> Info mostly taken from "Friendly Dictators" Written in 1995 by Dennis Bernstein and Laura Sydel U.S. State Department Policy Planning Study #23, 1948: " Our real task... is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity [U.S. military- economic supremacy]... To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming... We should cease to talk about vague and...unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization... we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better." -- George Kennan, Director of Policy Planning. U.S. State Department. 1948 Friendly Dictators Many of the world's most repressive dictators have been friends of America. Tyrants, torturers, killers, and sundry dictators and corrupt puppet-presidents have been aided, supported, and rewarded handsomely for their loyalty to US interests. Traditional dictators seize control through force, while constitutional dictators hold office through voting fraud or severely restricted elections, and are frequently puppets and apologists for the military juntas which control the ballot boxes. In any case, none have been democratically elected by the majority of their people in fair and open elections. They are democratic America's undemocratic allies. They may rise to power through bloody ClA-backed coups and rule by terror and torture. Their troops may receive training or advice from the CIA and other US agencies. US military aid and weapons sales often strengthen their armies and guarantee their hold on power. Unwavering "anti-communism" and a willingness to provide unhampered access for American business interests to exploit their countries' natural resources and cheap labor are the excuses for their repression, and the primary reason the US government supports them. They may be linked internationalIy to extreme right-wing groups such as the World Anti-Communist League, and some have had strong Nazi affiliations and have offered sanctuary to WWll Nazi war criminals. They usually grow rich, while their countries' economies deteriorate and the majority of their people live in poverty. US tax dollars and US-backed loans have made billionaires of some, while others are international drug dealers who also collect CIA paychecks. Rarely are they called to account for their crimes. And rarely still, is the US government held responsible for supporting and protecting some of the worst human rights violators in the world.

by **rain** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:36 pm

or Yemen for that matter, at the very least,the bottom line should be that Goss and his goons be put out to pasture for their demonstrable lack of 'intelligence'. US challenged over 'secret jails' Two Yemeni men claim they were held in secret, underground US jails for more than 18 months without being charged, Amnesty International has said. The human rights group has called on the US to reveal details of the alleged secret detention of suspects abroad. Amnesty fears the case is part of a "much broader picture" in which the US holds prisoners at secret locations. The US has not responded to the claims, but the head of the CIA recently said the agency does not use torture. Porter Goss said in testimony to the US Senate torture was neither professional nor productive. Beaten on feet In the new report, Amnesty has urged the US to reveal where its alleged secret detention facilities are, stop using them and name the detainees held there. The two Yemeni men, Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah and Salah Nasser Salim Ali, were arrested separately but reported almost identical experiences to Amnesty. Mr Muhammad says he was arrested in 2003 in Jordan, while Mr Salah says he was detained in Indonesia the same year and later flown to Jordan. Both say they were tortured for four days by Jordanian intelligence services. Alleged methods include being beaten on the feet while bound and suspended upside-down. One of the men claims he was threatened with sexual abuse and electric shocks. Each says he was then flown to an unnamed underground jail, where he was held in solitary confinement for six to eight months with no access to lawyers. Both claim they were interrogated every day by US guards about their activities in Indonesia and Afghanistan. They say a period in a second underground prison followed, where loud Western music was piped into the cell 24 hours a day and questioning by US officials continued. 'Netherworld' The men were transferred in May this year to Yemen, where they are still being held without charge. Amnesty says the Yemeni authorities say they are only holding the men because the US has "made it a condition of their release from secret detention". Amnesty's Sharon Critoph, who interviewed the men in Yemen, said: "To be 'disappeared' from the face of the earth without knowing why or for how long is a crime under international law and an experience no-one should have to go through. "We fear that what we have heard from these two men is just one small part of the much broader picture of US secret detentions around the world." Michael Ratner, of the US campaign group Center for Constitutional Rights, said the report was the first to touch on the "netherworld of secret detention facilities that the CIA is running". Amnesty has previously reported on what it calls the long-term detention without trial or charge of prisoners in Yemen at the request of US authorities. The US has also faced questions over its use of "rendition", a process by which terror suspects are sent for interrogation by security officials in other countries, some of which are accused of using torture. Story from BBC NEWS: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4743485.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-...743485.stm</a> Published: 2005/08/04 01:42:45 GMT © BBC MMV <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4743485.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4743485.stm</a>

The Psychology of Abu Ghraib

The Psychology of Abu Ghraib

Nottinghill - not the movie.

Outsourcing Torture

Morality

"set the conditions" and i think Pavlov,Skinner,Be

re: Setting the Conditions & Morality

and de-nial not being a river in Egypt

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