Public was misled on extent and effect of torture

[ErikJ]

Last edited Thu Sep 11, 2014, 10:09 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/10/shawn-vestal-public-was-misled-on-extent-and/
Shawn Vestal The Spokesman-Review

How much water was involved in America’s waterboarding of terrorism suspects?

If that sounds glib, it’s not meant to be. As the massive and much-battled-over “torture report” by a Senate committee inches toward public disclosure, a British newspaper is reporting that the waterboarding employed against three top al-Qaida suspects far exceeds the widespread understanding of what happened. It is the latest trickle from the iceberg surrounding that report, all of which suggest that the torture program was even worse than it was thought to be – that the tactics were harsher and the results negligible, and that the CIA misled a lot of people about it.

The waterboarding was part of an interrogation program developed and employed, in part, by a pair of former Spokane U.S. Air Force psychologists. The men, Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, helped “reverse-engineer” tactics used in survival training at Fairchild Air Force Base and other bases. They were also present at the waterboarding of one of the suspects in question at a CIA black site in 2002, according to several published accounts and government reports, and Mitchell participated firsthand.

The tactics developed for questioning suspects were quaintly called “enhanced interrogation.” They included sleep and sensory deprivation, stress position, being stripped and placed in cold environments, and forceful, strategic slapping.

Critics of the program – including other Fairchild officers at the time – have blasted it as a violation of U.S. and international law, but also as ineffective. Col. Steven Kleinman, a former interrogator in Panama and Iraq who was a top intelligence officer at Fairchild when the program was being developed, has been outspoken in his criticism. He said there was a “critical disconnect” in the thinking surrounding the tactics – that a program used to teach American soldiers to resist torture might be turned around and used to gather intelligence.
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Here's a related article about Jessen

Spokane Mormon church appointee aided CIA on terror
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/nov/18/fairchilds-torture-ties-extend-their-reach/

[99th_Monkey]

1. "forceful, strategic slapping"?

Certainly leaves a lot to the imagination.

WTF does this mean anyway?

[ErikJ]

2. Something medieval?

The details of that may come out later. Further down the article:

“They weren’t just pouring water over their heads or over a cloth,” the newspaper quoted one source saying. “They were holding them under water until the point of death, with a doctor present to make sure they did not go too far. This was real torture.”

Another source told the Telegraph about one interrogation: “They got medieval on his ass.”

[eridani]

3. Please repost in GD

The Spokane connection is relevant, but this should have as much exposure as possible.

[ErikJ]

4. Looks like Kpete posted the original Telegraph article a couple days ago

but no mention of the Fairchild Air Force psychologists connection. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow. Does need more exposure.

[Gothmog]

5. The truth about the use torture is slowly coming out

This is going to take a while to get all of the facts out in the public