Are Jim Mitchell & Bruce Jessen and their company "Mitchell Jessen & Associates" those redacted but mentioned in the Torture Report?
US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
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Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#112> Interrogation techniques such as slaps and "wallings" (slamming detainees against a wall) were used in combination, frequently concurrent with sleep deprivation and nudity. Records do not support CIA representations that the CIA initially used an "an open, non-threatening approach," or that interrogations began with the "least coercive technique possible" and escalated to more coercive techniques only as necessary.…
Someone should make a demonstration video out of this, showing the various techniques used. I think that would illustrate just how insane it is.
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's been shown that torture is among the least effective way of extracting information from unwilling informants. http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/an_fbi_interrogator_on_the_...
What is the most effective? Anyway, that's really counter-intuitive. I mean, I guess I could deal with pain, but losing body parts, skin or eyes? I would talk pretty fast.
People will say anything to get torture to stop. The interrogators will get the information they want, but they will get so much more bad information made up on the spot to stop the suffering, it's impossible to distinguish between actual intel and the subject telling the interrogator what they want to hear.
It gets even worse when the subject doesn't actually know anything useful. Waterboard most people and they will confess to anything they think will make it stop.
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#114Falsehood right in the forward: "the largest attack against the American homeland in our history". War of 1812?
According to Wikipedia, the entire War of 1812 caused 2,200 American deaths total, let alone in a single attack.
Per capita relative to population size it was much larger.
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#115Why do they insist on saying 'enhanced interrogation technique' instead of torture? Even when it obviously means torture: "Another senior CIA officer stated that COBALT was itself an enhanced interrogation technique." When talking about a physical place. That is so blatant word replacement that I find it hard to take it seriously.
> Why do they insist on saying 'enhanced interrogation technique' instead of torture? "Enhanced interrogation technique" is an uncontroversial, accurate factual description. "Torture" is a conclusion of law applied to the facts that, while there is overwhelming reason to accept that the conclusion is valid for the program as a whole, and many of the specific instances in particular, does not necessarily apply to all…
‘Enhanced’ is factual here? How about ‘Damaging interrogation technique’? That’s certainly more factual than ‘enhanced’.
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#116Just remember folks - this is the agency Amazon chooses to provide its services to. Vote with your wallet.
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#117An incredibly thoughtful and non provoking introduction to the document from Dianne Feinstein. This is a good thing and anything that can help America step back from her actions in future and take pause rather than extreme and counter productive measures is a good thing. I hope some day that just like the well tested evidence that torture doesn't work it'll be shown that mass surveillance also gives next to nothing t…
Just to clarify are you using the word "her" in this section: "America step back from her actions in future" To mean: "America step back from the actions of the US government in future" ?
Just to play devils advocate, so please don't take this personally...
There are varying levels of culpability that we all share right. It's difficult to see that we are all part of the problem if we aren't engaged in trying to change it. Your statement suggests that the American government operate in a vacuum and certainly every day people aren't engaged it does seem more and more that they can do as they wish.
I'm going to go donate something to http://www.rootstrikers.org/ now.
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#118Falsehood right in the forward: "the largest attack against the American homeland in our history". War of 1812?
I was under the impression that in the War of 1812, USA was the agressor. Wikipedia seems to also support this view. Is that not correct, or do americans just have their own differing viewpoint?
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#119> Interrogation techniques such as slaps and "wallings" (slamming detainees against a wall) were used in combination, frequently concurrent with sleep deprivation and nudity. Records do not support CIA representations that the CIA initially used an "an open, non-threatening approach," or that interrogations began with the "least coercive technique possible" and escalated to more coercive techniques only as necessary.…
The saving grace is that we have a country that was able to admit that it did this. For me, that's hope that we're still in a position to learn from our wrongs, and that the checks-and-balances are still somewhat in-tact.
> The saving grace is that we have a country that was able to admit that it did this.
"The country" doesn't admit that "the country" did this. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence "admits" that the Central Intelligence Agency did this, while at the same time insulating everyone else -- even in the Executive Branch -- from involvement, based on "the CIA was lying to everyone, including the White House, who totally didn't mean for this to happen."
> For me, that's hope that we're still in a position to learn from our wrongs, and that the checks-and-balances are still somewhat in-tact.
Checks and balances aren't admitting after the fact that actions which meet the definition of torture and war crimes in both US domestic law and international law which the US has treaty-based obligations to uphold occurred (while, except for the "personal opinion" of the chair in the introduction, not actually admitting the legal conclusions demanded by those facts), checks-and-balances is actually imposing some accountability on the perpetrators of those crimes.
AFAICT, there are no "checks-and-balances" in evidence yet.
Re: US Senate Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program
#120Why do they insist on saying 'enhanced interrogation technique' instead of torture? Even when it obviously means torture: "Another senior CIA officer stated that COBALT was itself an enhanced interrogation technique." When talking about a physical place. That is so blatant word replacement that I find it hard to take it seriously.
It's because they stick to their narrative. PR speak.
Torture is a loaded word that directly implies guilt, where as "enhanced interrogation" is a fairly neutral term. Despite the reports narrative of pointing out all the failures of the CIA in allowing these techniques to be performed, it can't just say "The CIA is a bunch of jackasses who tortured some folks". It needs to be objective to be taken seriously.