Torture
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DECEMBER 24, 2014
Why
the American Psychological Association Caved to Torture
Weaponizing Psychology
by GEOFF GRAY
With the publication of
the James Risen’s book “Pay Any Price: Greed,
Power and Endless War”and the release of the Senate Torture
report, it has become abundantly clear that the American Psychological
Association colluded with the CIA and DOD in enabling torture. A large number
of military psychologists as well as private vendor psychologists participated
in torture.
The American
Psychological Association provided ethical cover for the psychologists as well
as for the Bush administration. A small number of the top leadership of the
APA, including presidents Koocher and Levant, successfully pushed through
guidelines designed to enable psychologists to participate in “torture by
another name”despite the fact that the membership disapproved of them.
APA actions
included: holding secret meetings with the DOD and CIA in order to craft
guidelines that would enable torture; lying to its membership and the public
repeatedly about salient facts; undemocratically promulgating guidelines
without allowing the council of representatives review or to vote on the
guidelines; resisting calls by the broad membership to rescind the torture
policies; demeaning and bullying whistleblowers who objected that the task
force set up to review Bush interrogation policies was corrupt and stacked with
military psychologists who had participated in torture; denying that psychologists
participated in torture when they knew otherwise; and refusing to take action
against psychologists who participated in torture. (1)
Why did the American Psychological
Association take this unethical course when every other healthcare discipline, including
the American Medical Association, the American Nursing Association, and the
American Psychiatric Association, did the very opposite and in no uncertain
terms absolutely forbade their members from participating in torture?..
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