Torture: It Boggles the Imagination

“Sensory deprivation has a devastating psychological impact and can lead to the complete dissolution of the personality accompanied by hallucinations, delusional thinking, and general incoherence. It is presently acknowledged as a form of torture; in fact, it is one of a group of “enhanced techniques” that are entirely psychological in nature and unique in that they do not conform to the general public understanding of what torture is.”

-- Brian Moss

Brian Moss; I can't find much about him, though I think he in the field of psychology or psychiatry.  I was looking for quotes to embellish another post when I came across this quote of his: “Sensory deprivation has a devastating psychological impact and can lead to the complete dissolution of the personality accompanied by hallucinations, delusional thinking, and general incoherence. It is presently acknowledged as a form of torture; in fact, it is one of a group of “enhanced techniques” that are entirely psychological in nature and unique in that they do not conform to the general public understanding of what torture is.”  Having completed a career with military intelligence, I found his statement quite interesting and, in my humble view, perhaps a tad incomplete.

I agree that sensory deprivation is a form of torture, in the sense that it "softens" up the subject as preparation for another stage in interrogation - sensory overload.  I was privileged to volunteer for interrogation training as a part of a resistance training course provided to the USAF Survival School by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy.  It was an eye-opener to thinking "outside the box" when it came to interrogation and, especially, torture.

“Perhaps you notice how the denial is so often the preface to the justification.”

-- Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), author, journalist, social critic

Interrogation and torture is a mindset.  You either set your mind to it or find another job.  Morality takes a second seat to patriotism, and you fixate on saving American lives at the expense of your soul.  If there are rules to follow, you have already failed.  If you are operating under some politically motivated moral "rules of conduct" you have already failed.  Oh, and "waterboarding" is something they do during college hazing, and the enemy is well aware of that.  Real interrogation requires creative thinking.  Nailing your subjects scrotum to a wooden chair and connecting the nail and the subject to electrical leads is a productive start.  Beyond simple torture, one has to wonder when the interrogator crosses the line to a loss of their own sanity.  When does the interrogator become everything they, themselves, fear?

“There are scores of people who have never recovered, or been recovered, from an FSB interrogation... They’re a hard organization to describe because nothing like the FSB exists in the USA. To get even remotely close, you’d have to ask the CIA to birth a seven-headed hydra with the faces of the FBI, DEA, NSA, Immigration, Border Patrol, Coast Guard, and the Navy Seals with a hangover and a grudge.”

-- Tanya Thompson, author, "Red Russia"

Interrogation without physical damage is, as Brian Moss puts it, "entirely psychological in nature and unique in that they do not conform to the general public understanding of what torture is,"  and sensory deprivation certainly falls into this category.  As one can imagine, sensory deprivation takes time, and that time differs with the subjects ability to withstand the deprivation.  But, is it moral? 

Consider this statement found under the Wikipedia subject, "Sensory Deprivation": Sensory deprivation techniques were developed by some of the armed forces within NATO, as a means of interrogating prisoners within international treaty obligations. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the use of the five techniques by British security forces in Northern Ireland amounted to a practice of inhumane and degrading treatment.  Well, no shit.  Torture, by definition, isn't humane, it is a means to an end.  Sometimes the end needs to be speedily arrived at due to time constraints of a particular operation in which lives hang in the balance.  But, what if time is not as important as the information?

"Something amazing happens when the rest of the world is sleeping. I am glued to my chair. I forget that I ever wanted to do anything but write... Three or four hours pass in a moment; I have no idea what time it is, because I never check the clock... I am suspended in a sensory deprivation tank, and the very lack of sensation is delicious."

-- Anne Fadiman, author, jounalist, reporter

Imagine having gone through sensory deprivation until you begin hallucinating.  Simplified, the mental effect of sensory deprivation is called the Ganzfeld effect.  This effect is described as "a phenomenon of perception caused by exposure to an unstructured, uniform stimulation field. The effect is the result of the brain amplifying neural noise in order to look for the missing visual signals. The noise is interpreted in the higher visual cortex, and gives rise to hallucinations."

I think this takes us to the obvious next step of "sensory overload" of the "sensory deprived" subject.  This would be where you take the hallucinating subject and overload their senses with a constant barrage of fingernails down a blackboard while forcing them to look at rapidly changing visual stimuli.  Depending on the duration and, perhaps, the need to constantly change up a bit of deprivation and a bit of stimulus overload, I think I might either eat my tongue or run my head full speed into a cinderblock wall.  The human mind can only handle so much.  But, again, nail through the scrotum with electric shock or sensory deprivation followed up with sensory overload, both are torture.  The difference is the time it takes to retrieve the requisite information to foil enemy operations and save Ameican lives.  The shorter route is messy, while the longer route not so much.  Either way, the mind takes a tour of hell from which it may never return.

“Nothing will shake a man-or at any rate a man like me-out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself.”

-- C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), author, theologian, academician

The idea of visiting torture upon another human being or undergoing said torture, well, it boggles the imagination.  When does one's sense of humanity trump their patriotic responsibility to save their own?  When do you make the decision to sacrifice the lives of your fellow countrymen, or the innocent, to do what is morally right?  Either way, don't you end up sacrificing your soul?  Aren't you truly damned if you do, and damned if you don't?  

Either way, the interrogators will spend the rest of their lives paying the price and trying to make amends with their own moral convictions for what they have done in defense of their country.  For many, this sense of damnation, their post-traumatic stress, is felt simply for what they know they were willing to do, and not necessarily for anything they actually did.  It can mess with your head.  I know it messed with mine.

“A man does not have to feel less than human to realize his sin; oppositely, he has to realize that he gets no special vindication for his sin.”

-- Criss Jami, poet, philosopher

So what's my point?  Let nothing humans do surprise you.  Our definition of "survival of the fittest" is driven by the weaponry our minds can devise, and we keep missing the obvious that our minds are the greatest weapons at our disposal.  They are also our greatest detriment as we are all at the mercy of what our minds can handle.

“Perhaps you notice how the denial is so often the preface to the justification.”

-- Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), author, journalist, social critic

When I was in the intelligence career field I was privy to the worst we could visit upon each other.  Even though I harbored no misconceptions of what I was willing to do to the enemy, it made me wonder why we do it.  The obvious answer, and it only applies to defense, is survival.  But, our foremost  moral directive should always be "live and let live."

If you confront us with a knife, we will present you with a philosophy of peace and prosperity.  If you use the knife, we will immediately drop a weapon of mass destruction on your country.  We did it before, too late in the game to save lives, and history continues to forget the price to both sides of the conflict.  Shouldn't our "principle of military necessity" be driven by protecting our own forces from destruction and not be concerned, at all, with our enemy?  We constantly have to ask ourselves what the cost of peace is worth.  We need to ask if sacrificing our young people on the field of battle is worth any moral prerogative, or should we simply, quickly, and decisively, make the other poor dumb bastards die for their country's selfish priorities, while the rest of the world continues the struggle to find a common peace?

“It would be advisable to think of progress in the crudest, most basic terms: that no one should go hungry anymore, that there should be no more torture, no more Auschwitz. Only then will the idea of progress be free from lies.”

-- Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969), philosopher, sociologist. psychologist

To quote the Federation President in the movie, Star Trek VI:  "Let us redefine progress to mean that just because we can do a thing, it does not necessarily mean we must do that thing."  No, it doesn't necessarily mean we must.  But is it progress to sacrifice thousands when a couple of weapons might bring about an attitude adjustment?  Left with no alternative but to throw young lives away on the field of battle, I choose to do what we must and do it with extreme prejudice.  But, again, I've seen what evil is capable of and, if you think about it, so have you.  It boggles the imagination.

What are you willing to sacrifice for peace and security? 

“Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.”

-- Mahavira (599 BC-527 BC), Jainist philosopher 

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.