In the first of the four memos, we learn that one prisoner has been the subject of a careful psychoanalysis that had revealed a strong fear of insects, particularly stinging insects. The sudden onset of a phobia can produce automatic, uncontrollable reactions–the fear grips total control of the subject’s mind. Rapid heartbeat, a shortness of breath, trembling, an overwhelming desire to flee. The prisoner is prepared to do anything to escape the cause of the phobia.
The CIA therefore proposed to lock the prisoner in a coffin-like box to which would be added an insect. Judge–yes, the author is a sitting appeals court judge in San Francisco–Jay Bybee’s memorandum discusses this process in detail and settles on a pre-agreed script about how Room 101 will be used, addressing in turn the toxicity of the insect to be used, the dimensions of the box in which the prisoner will be confined, and the false statements which will be made to the prisoner in order to heighten his level of apprehension, with the intention of triggering a “panic attack.” (via harpers)Damn, the US is so metal. Part of me wants to make jokes about how evil this is, and the other part of me wants to cringe at what democracy has become and how modern nation-states operate. i guess ill just keep cruising the internet and posting ridiculous stuff to my tumblr.
