Comments on: The OLC Memos, “Erroneous and Inflammatory Assumptions,” and John Rizzo’s Lies

By: marymccurnin

marymccurnin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:28:09 +0000

A psychologist has no medical training requirement and is rarely an M.D.

A psychologist is only a M.D. if that person happens to also have an M.D. degree.

By: tjbs

tjbs — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:31:18 +0000

And don’t forget up to 80% of the torture victims were totally innocent of anything.

By: TheLurkingMod

TheLurkingMod — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:30:47 +0000

Jane is upstairs at the Mothership!
Ed Liddy Keeps AIG Profits High by Denying Medical Claims for Iraq, Afghanistan Injuries

By: Beerfart Liberal

Beerfart Liberal — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:07:41 +0000

Jeez.

At least one high-profile attorney [Rivkin] says the declassified Department of Justice memos detailing interrogation techniques prove the U.S. did not torture, even as the ACLU and some lawmakers claim the memos are proof positive the Bush administration did.

By: WarOnWarOff

WarOnWarOff — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:00:54 +0000

On its own, extended sleep deprivation is physical and mental abuse. Combine it with sensory deprivation, lack of food and water, other physical abuse, loud noises, and/or lights and abuse quickly becomes torture.

In “Taxi to the Dark Side” there was footage of interviews with the Canadian researcher who first experimented (on his students) with sensory deprivation. They wore goggles and hoods (much like our prisoners) and would be practically psychotic after just *one* day.

By: Valtin

Valtin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:13:50 +0000

I wish I had reference to the CIA’s own data on sleep deprivation. All I could find to reference was the Army’s Combat Stress manual, linked upthread here, I think (or in an earlier article’s thread — ironically, I’m a little sleep deprived today and not remembering easily).

By: rkilowatt

rkilowatt — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:13:42 +0000

1. Is there confusion of relevant words? A psychiatrist is a Medical Doctor [M.D.] with specialty training in psychiatry. A psychologist has no medical training requirement and is rarely an M.D.

2.Redacted “documents” are always suspect, as are the givers of such docs. For example, even a redacted name of a person has been known to cover that a doc is a forgery [the name found to be in different typeface in separately disovered, authentic copy of the “doc”.]

3. Reference to an “expert” is silly without agreement on qualification of said “expert”. Ever notice that “experts” abound in proportion to how little is known about the field of “expertise”?
There are not many arithmatic experts. Or walking experts. Or legibility experts. Or ditchdigging experts. Or tapemeasure experts.

But lots of economics experts!

By: emptywheel

emptywheel — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:21:31 +0000

Incidentally, you’lll see why in the post I’m working on. But we know that two things happened after the IG report.

1) They brought CIA’s doctors in to consult.
2) THey lowered the maximum length of sleep deprivation from 264 hours to 180 hours.

That suggests one of the things CIA’s doctors told them to do was cut back on the sleep deprivation.

By: bmaz

bmaz — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:11:16 +0000

This is why the focus on “Appendix M” and other problematic sections of the AFM needs to maintain.

By: emptywheel

emptywheel — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:04:10 +0000

Please do make sure you read them all, though. Bradbury’s work on sleep deprivation is particularly troubling. And after admitting that sleep deprivation and waterboarding might be problematic, he then says, ‘what they heck, use them in combination!!”