Chemical Interrogation at Guantanamo
Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 06:28:50 AM PDT
Chemical Interrogation has been studied by the US Government and the CIA for decades.
The established facts of this remain "tainted" with the smell of "conspiracy theory" but are plainly borne out by what you have seen and have learned about the goings-on at Abu Grahib and Guantanamo Bay.
The link above is to a Wikipedia entry with more information than most people will care for, but chemical interrogation has doubtlessly taken place. Given that prisoners have been beaten and tortured to death, what's the big deal with dosing them with a few strong drugs?
Suspicions grow that drugs were used in detainee interrogations
The CIA and the Defense Department have denied using drugs in interrogations and suggest that the detainees' stories "are either fabrications or mistaken interpretations of routine medical treatment."
Well... the CIA denied it...guess that shortens the tale, eh?...
However, a newly-released memo written by Justice Department lawyer John Yoo in 2003, which argued that nothing in U.S. law limits what the president can order done to prisoners in time of war, also suggested that drugs could be used on prisoners as long as they did not cause permanent psychological damage. Even with that restriction, such a practice would likely be in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
So it's relatively safe to assume that prisoners are routinely "interrogated" under the influence of extremely powerful drugs.
To suggest that this hasn't occurred is to beg belief.
I did LSD a few times back in the late 1970's and early 1980. While most times it was enjoyable and very interesting, I had a few experiences I'd rather not repeat.
One of those was what I would call severe time warp - the severely altered sense of time. And in my case it seemed infused with a sort of anxiety. It was very unpleasant and seemed to last a lifetime.
At one point I was certain an hour or two had passed and in fact it was only 3 minutes. That simply amplified the anxiety. It was very uncomfortable.
It all eventually subsided and everything was ok. It was all just altered perception. But it remains a vivid memory of intense anxiety and discomfort.
Here is my very brief point: I want you to trust me on this.
I cannot imagine what it would be like to be in a place like Gitmo, being tortured and beaten with a head full of stuff far far more potent and purposely savage, capable of making the minutes seem like hours and inducing severe panic reactions.
This is torture, plain and simple.
And to have people knowingly and systematically doing this to people - most of whom aren't a real threat to us - is a war crime, dammit. You cannot hide it with a friggin' memo.
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