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posted by takyon on Saturday April 16 2016, @05:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the involuntary-sleep-deprivation dept.

Eric Fair served as an interrogator in Iraq working as a military contractor for the private security firm CACI. [...] Fair writes about feeling haunted by what he did, what he saw and what he heard in Iraq, from the beating of prisoners to witnessing the use of sleep deprivation, stress positions and isolation to break prisoners.

[...] Raad Hussein is bound to the Palestinian chair. His hands are tied to his ankles. The chair forces him to lean forward in a crouch, forcing all of his weight onto his thighs. It's as if he's been trapped in the act of kneeling down to pray, his knees frozen just above the floor, his arms pinned below his legs. He is blindfolded. His head has collapsed into his chest. He wheezes and gasps for air. There is a pool of urine at his feet. He moans: too tired to cry, but in too much pain to remain silent.

[...] Sleep deprivation, as I've said before, can be accomplished in a matter of hours. You can let someone go to sleep in a dark room with no windows, and you can wake them up in 15 or 20 minutes. They have no idea how long they've been asleep. And with no windows, they have no idea what time of day it is. You can let them go back to sleep, and you can wake them up in 20 minutes. They still have no idea. And they've since—within 45 minutes, they've lost all sense of time. Two or three hours later, you can convince this person that he's been living for four or five days, when it's really only been an hour.

[...] [The purpose of sleep deprivation:] The complete lack of hope. It is to strip away someone's hope and to insert a different way of thinking into their mind, which would be my mind into theirs, so that they're going to cooperate with me.

Part 1: http://www.democracynow.org/2016/4/7/a_torturer_s_confession_former_abu

Part 2: http://www.democracynow.org/2016/4/7/ex_abu_ghraib_interrogator_israelis_trained


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  • (Score: -1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:10PM (#332917)

    The enemy would gladly do worse to us. Refusing to do likewise to them is giving them an advantage, and thus treason. Shame on you all.

    This stuff wouldn't need to be secret if we didn't have traitors in our midst. Torturing the enemy is something to take pride in. The faster we break their will, the better. This is of course mostly from our perspective, though it may also reduce total death by ending things faster and more decisively. (as Hiroshima did)

    Think how hesitant an Islamist enemy would be if he knew that a failure to flee would mean we do things that he sincerely believes will send him straight to Hell. We can have left-handed women kill him while he touches a pig or pig waste. Some of this has been done: the Kurds are using women, and Europeans used to use lard-greased bullets. Let's take it to the max.

    Some kinds of "peacekeeping" just drag things out forever. Centuries later, people will still be dying over the matter. It's even possible, ultimately, to have more dead people than the maximum population of the Earth. There are cultures that simply can't live in harmony with each other; there will be no peace until after one side or the other is slaughtered. Be a winner.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:25PM (#332923)

    and thus treason

    Another grand logical leap from shit ACs.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by aristarchus on Saturday April 16 2016, @10:59PM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday April 16 2016, @10:59PM (#332988) Journal

      and thus treason

      Another grand logical leap from shit ACs.

      Not just a shit AC! A war-crime advocating AC! Kind of a Donald of ACs! Probably a Nazi, or at least a terrorist. If anyone thinks that a nation needs to respond to atrocities by repeating them, they are a coward of the worst sort.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:31PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:31PM (#332926)

    To you, 'empathy' is something others should have for you, no?
    I'm so glad we have freedom of expression, because it brings out the best in all of us and let's us identify which ones are the whacko's that need to be stayed away from. The best in you that was brought out, is not that great, friend...

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:45PM (#332934)

    So you want us to conduct ourselves like barbaric terrorists because 'They do it too!'? You are truly brilliant and have an excellent grasp on ethics and what "treason" means.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:53PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:53PM (#332941)

      So you want us to conduct ourselves like barbaric terrorists because 'They do it too!'?

      The argument worked for the CIA, Dick Chaney, the Decider in Chief and the rest of their gang who green-lit torture.

  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:45PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Saturday April 16 2016, @08:45PM (#332935) Journal

    If you turn evil in order to fight evil, evil has already won.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 1) by Francis on Sunday April 17 2016, @11:34PM

      by Francis (5544) on Sunday April 17 2016, @11:34PM (#333472)

      Pretty much. Most of the last 15 years the US has devoted trillions of dollars trying to put that fire out.

      What's worse is that we've gone about it in the most hamfisted and counterproductive way imaginable. The current problem of ISIS is mainly a byproduct of the inept handling of the unnecessary Iraq war. The Iraq war itself was an ignorant response to Al Quaeda that was itself largely a product of our policies during the cold war where we armed militants and pointed them at the Soviet Union.

      It's astonishing to me that so many fail to comprehend that most of this stuff is just the natural reaction to things that we did and that it's definitely not going to stop if we keep engaging in questionable activities to protect our own interests. And that's assuming that they're questionable, a lot of it is black and white definitely crimes against humanity when a less powerful nation does it.

  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @09:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @09:10PM (#332946)

    I agree somewhat. This is not a Disney Movie. This a war. Or if you will; a police action. Either way it's not a picnic. If you don't want war then vote out the war-mongers. That will still not keep the other guy from coming to your town and killing your loved ones. You can be the peaceful hippie if you want; I will protect my family and friends with what ever force/intel I have at my disposal.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @09:31PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @09:31PM (#332952)

      "If you don't want war then vote out the war-mongers."

      Voting actually means something? Where do you live? Fantasy Land? Or Iceland?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @09:39PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @09:39PM (#332956)

      Then you're unprincipled barbarian that would probably get along better with the uncivilized terrorist groups than people who genuinely want to live in civilized, free, and principled countries. The ends do not justify the means.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @01:11AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @01:11AM (#333032)

        How do you think those countries became what they are now.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @02:47AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @02:47AM (#333073)

          I'd rather go down fighting an outside enemy than have my country become an authoritarian one by my own hands. And in the first place, it's usually authoritarians like you that make the country worse from the inside. You seem to be saying that all these countries were taken over by evil invaders, which is simply false.

          Also, you didn't actually ask a question.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @11:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 16 2016, @11:07PM (#332993)

      You can be the peaceful hippie if you want; I will protect my family and friends with what ever force/intel I have at my disposal.

      Yeah, you scaredy pants person, you! I feel sorry for your family and friends that they have such a paranoid wacko thinking he will "protect" them! More than likely, your armaments that you think will protect them will be the greatest realistic threat to their safety! Not only that, but your true nemesis will slip up upon you, silently, and you will not even see the enemy coming!! Ha! Yes, you will probably die from slipping in the bathtub, since you spent to much time and money worried about your delusional fears to actually get around to installing the "no-slip" strips. Terrorist bathtubs, extremist porcelains. Be vigilant. Install the damn strips! And get professional help.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @01:09AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @01:09AM (#333029)

        Why do you thing he/she has any "armaments?" "force/intel" If your referring to guns; then you must not have any. Hippie. Look at your post. Think hard about the troll trying to get out. He's the one that will do you in. Are you a doctor? Do you prescribe "help"? Dr Troll. Welcome to SN. Where even you can be a SJW. Oh and buy a gun and learn how to use it. So you don't become a burden to those in your family that have to protect you. NOTE: Keep your inner Troll away from the gun.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @09:50AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @09:50AM (#333201)

          Gun? .54 caliber Creedmore barrel, dead-on at 1000yds. Single shot, but then that is all you ever need. It is kind of like a bathtub with no anti-slip strips in it. Of course, I am not afraid of some scary terrorist killing me or my family. And since I am not afraid, I do not need some other idiot too cowardly to refuse blatantly illegal orders to torture another human being, terrorist or not. No one in my family has to protect me, and I am certain that no one in the US military is protecting me as well. Their recent "actions" have done nothing but embarrass the world, and make everyone less safe, and evidently scared some Americans so bad that they think they have to buy guns and throw away the only decent thing Americans ever gave to the world, aside from Sassparilla, their Constitution with its recognition of inherent human rights.

    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday April 17 2016, @03:14AM

      by sjames (2882) on Sunday April 17 2016, @03:14AM (#333091) Journal

      If he invades my town, I'll shoot him if necessary but I will not preemptively invade his town.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @04:47AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 17 2016, @04:47AM (#333129)

        He's invading your town right now.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by rts008 on Saturday April 16 2016, @10:16PM

    by rts008 (3001) on Saturday April 16 2016, @10:16PM (#332970)

    Traitors and treason? Let's throw sedition on the list, too.

    And that list describes you and your ilk to a tee. Ignoring the constitution, enriching yourselves at the expense of the taxpayers to further increase the FUD-driven profits, the offenses are plentiful.

    You present a sad picture of a pathetic, scared, and hateful creature. Yes, like Smeagol/Gollum. I hearby name you Gollum, and you are no longer an Anonymous Coward, just a coward named Gollum.