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In reply to the discussion: "I'm sorry that I hurt the United States" Bradley Manning apologizes in court [View all]OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)An Inside Look at How U.S. Interrogators Destroyed the Mind of Jose Padilla
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18200.htm
AMY GOODMAN: What was the effect of over three-and-a-half years of isolation on Jose Padilla?
DR. ANGELA HEGARTY: I think theres two things, really. Number one, his family, more than anything, and his friends, who had a chance to see him by the time I spoke with them, said he was changed. There was something wrong. There was something very weird -- was the word one of his siblings used -- something weird about him. There was something not right. He was a different man. And the second thing was his absolute state of terror, terror alternating with numbness, largely. It was as though the interrogators were in the room with us. He was like -- perhaps like a trauma victim who knew that they were going to be sent back to the person who hurt them and that he would, as I said earlier, he would subsequently pay a price if he revealed what happened. So I think those would be the two main things.
Also he had developed, actually, a third thing. He had developed really a tremendous identification with the goals and interests of the government. I really considered a diagnosis of Stockholm syndrome. For example, at one point in the proceedings, his attorneys had, you know, done well at cross-examining an FBI agent, and instead of feeling happy about it like all the other defendants Ive seen over the years, he was actually very angry with them. He was very angry that the civil proceedings were unfair to the commander-in-chief, quote/unquote. And in fact, one of the things that happened that disturbed me particularly was when he saw his mother. He wanted her to contact President Bush to help him, help him out of his dilemma. He expected that the government might help him, if he was good, quote/unquote.