On Fri, 10 Jul 2015 19:54:42 -0700, Joan Warmbold wrote:
|APA's involvement in the use of torture is obviously extremely sad and
|tragic. However, the history of our entire country will also 'not go
down
|well,', relative to our government's support for the pervasive use of
the
|torture of Iraqi detainees in prisons held in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and
|other 'unknown sites.'
|
|And how did we US citizens respond to the trumped up rationale used for
|invading Iraq that resulted in the predictable destruction of the
lives,
|homes and villages of the Iraqis? Barely a peep of protest was heard
as
|we all went about our lives as if we had no power or responsibility for
|these abhorrent actions. The APA's actions occurred partially because
we
|allowed our government to take despicable actions with nary a protest.
|There's plenty of shame and regret to be shared by us all.
|
|http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/guantanamo-bay-torture/
With all due respect, speak only for yourself. I don't know what you
did but I and the rest of New York state did not vote for Bush in 2004.
Whenever I and others had a chance to elect people who would work
to stop the war in Iraq and against the "enhanced interrogation"
techniques, we did. Back at that time I wondered what was wrong
with those parts of the country that voted for Bush and supported his
policies. I've supported Amnesty International in its work as well as
other NGOs that have dealt with these issues. And if anyone on Tips
just searches their memories for discussions of torture on Tips,
(or just search the mail archive for posts that mention torture) one
will find that some of use tried to publicize these issues, especially
the one concerning the use of torture as developed and implemented
by psychologists. Here's a few examples:
From 2006:
Linda Woolf's post on the resolution to the Council of Representative
of APA just prior to the 2006 APA meeting
https://www.mail-archive.com/tips%40acsun.frostburg.edu/msg18214.html
My post on an article on the American Prospect website on by book
by Dr. Steven Miles (physician) which reviews the coercive
interrogations
that were being done:
https://www.mail-archive.com/tips%40acsun.frostburg.edu/msg18314.html
NOTE: the article by Aziz Huq can no longer be reached by the links in
post, instead use the following:
http://prospect.org/article/first-do-harm
Post by Beth Benoit providing a link to Amnesty Internationals'
statement
on "interrogation/torture"; see:
https://www.mail-archive.com/tips%40acsun.frostburg.edu/msg18220.html
The Amnesty International webpage that is linked to in Beth's post:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/torture?tr=y&auid=1863830
Amnesty International's statement about the present APA report and
its recommendation that the US Justice Department investigate the
situation (subpoena power to compel people to speak was a significant
limitation for the lawyers investigating APA's relationships with the
CIA
and the DoD; it would also be good to get some people under oath
with the threat of prosecution for perjury); see:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/justice-department-should-investigate-in-wake-of-american-psychological-association-report
From 2007, Linda Woolf's further work on APA"s "torture problem":
https://www.mail-archive.com/tips%40acsun.frostburg.edu/msg22299.html
There are many more from the 2006-2009 period in the Tips
archive. It may be a good time to do some reflection on the
past.
True, some were quiet and/or agreed with what the administration
and the APA were doing. But there were others and they weren't
quiet about it. There also were others with louder, more influential
voices who should have spoken out, people like Martin Seligman
and Robert Sternberg and others who should have talked out about
this. They and others are going to be asked some uncomfortable
questions about what they did and didn't do.Focusing on those folks
might be more fruitful than making a blanket accusation that nobody
did nothing and "we all went about our lives as if we had no power
or responsibility for these abhorrent actions".
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
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