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• Thursday, December 4, 2008 06:25 AM

  One more point on the "enhanced interrogation methods"

  Those who may now, as Feinstein may be alluding, wish to allow a few "enhanced techniques" back into the interrogation fold should realize that these "new" techniques are anything but new. As detailed extensively by Naomi Klein in "The Shock Doctrine", these techniques parallel completely the methods in the old Kubark manual from the CIA. We had the entire Cold War to experiment with these methods. The Army Field Manual outlaws these practices because they fail to produce useful intelligence while they put our side at risk if it is known we engage in these practices.

  The CIA experimented extensively on the handling of prisoners during the 50's and 60's. As Klein documents in detail, the techniques that now are in vogue, especially extreme and prolonged sensory deprivation and extended time in "stress positions" are known to be particularly effective in completely destroying a person's sanity. They were developed when there was a belief that one could completely "wipe" a mind clean and then reprogram it. Instead, the "wiping" turns out to be permanent and the "reprogramming" not possible, leaving the victim mentally destroyed.

  To me, that is the primary driving force behind the current dilemma facing the Bush administration regarding the eventual release of prisoners from Guantanamo. How is the world going to react when we release hundreds of prisoners who were imprisoned under false circumstances and then tortured until they are now no longer sane? The only answer they can come up with is never to release the prisoners.

  —Jim White Read Jim White's other letters
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