Psychologist in Terror War (architect of Bush-era interrogation tactics) Is Subject of Complaint

[kpete]

Source: Texas Tribune

The Texas Tribune
Psychologist in Terror War Is Subject of Complaint
By MORGAN SMITH
Published: November 13, 2010


The decision about whether an architect of Bush-era interrogation tactics will keep his license as a psychologist is in the hands of a Texas government agency.

Marjorie Kamys Cotera/The Texas Tribune

Dicky Grigg
The Texas Tribune

A complaint against Dr. James E. Mitchell is now before the Texas State Board of Psychologists, alleging that he violated the profession’s rules of practice in helping the C.I.A. develop “enhanced interrogation techniques” for use in its so-called black prison sites during the Bush administration’s war on terror. Along with Dr. Bruce Jessen, a fellow military psychologist, Dr. Mitchell was a primary developer of post-Sept. 11 C.I.A. interrogation methods that are currently under a criminal torture investigation by the Department of Justice.

Dr. Mitchell, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article, parlayed his experience in training American soldiers to survive as prisoners of war into a lucrative consulting business with the C.I.A. He orchestrated — and, according to the complaint, participated in — the harsh interrogation of terror suspects using sexual humiliation and the drowning technique called waterboarding.

Joseph Margulies, a Northwestern University law professor, and Dicky Grigg, an Austin lawyer, worked with a Texas psychologist, Jim L. H. Cox, to bring the complaint, which documents in lurid detail Dr. Mitchell’s role in the questioning of prisoners.

The complaint, which was brought in June, alleges that the doctor misrepresented his qualifications to the C.I.A., placing “his own career and financial aspirations above the safety of others” while designing a “torture regime” with a “complete lack of scientific basis.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/us/14ttlawsuit.html?_r=1

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[Judi Lynn]

2. Dr. Bruce Jessen and Dr. James Mitchell deserve a special medal.

Dr. Bruce Jessen and Dr. James Mitchell deserve a special medal.
Posted by Henry Porter

~snip~
I have heard references to Dr. Bruce Jessen and Dr. James Mitchell before. However, a a recent article about their torture experiments drove home just how disturbing a role these men played in these atrocities.

Their role in the torture atrocities is disturbing, but not for the obvious reasons. Even more disturbing than the sadism and the cruelty, is the realization that we've seen this all before. Yet, we continue to repeat the atrocities of the past.

I'm not talking about torture. That's ancient. I'm talking about the "experiments" carried out by Dr. Bruce Jessen and Dr. James Mitchell. Those are a special kind of atrocity. They aren't done in the heat of the moment. They aren't the result of someone losing control and snapping because they were placed in an intolerable situation. They aren't even the result of misinformation or manipulation. They were done intentionally, with malice aforethought. They were done as cold, calculating, clinical exercises. This makes them a special type of atrocity.

More:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Dr-Bruce-Jessen-and-Dr-J-by-background-n015e-090517-37.html

[tpsbmam]

3. Good. They should both lose their licenses to practice. Unfortunately, they'll

just go on and find other smarmy lucrative pay somewhere. They should be prosecuted for their participation in torture, just as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others in the administration should be prosecuted for their war crimes.

[glitch]

5. In a just politcal system they would be prosecuted and convicted.

And their incarceration would not involve utilization of their skills.

[supernova]

4. About. Damn. Time.