This page created by Allen L. Barker

Rationalizing Away Torture



1. Post-hoc rationalizations. Most of the rationalizations are of this sort, but it is included as a separate item. Basically a person is selected for torture and surveillance for whatever real reason is involved -- classified work, they are presumed subversive, they are a random experimental subject, etc. -- and then one objective of the surveillance is to come up with plausible lies about why the surveillance was begun in the first place.

2. Pretend it is a battle between equals. Act like this is some struggle between equals, a sporting event, or even a war between two armies. Never express the reality that this is a military and intelligence attack against civilians in their homes using advanced weaponry.

3. Demonize the victims. Pretend the victims were terrible people, who deserve what they got, and from whom the public needs to be protected. Portray domestic repression as a ``good'' sort of government vigilante action. Choose one or two victims in particular to smear. An individual cannot begin to counter a huge, behind-the-scenes smear campaign -- especially when coupled with torture -- and all the other victims will be smeared by association.

4. Compare adult citizens to children. The paternalistic approach to justifying torture. Claim that these people do not know what is best for them and cannot make their own decisions. If we have to abuse and violate these people it is only tough love. If they demand their basic human rights it only shows how childlike and naive they are.

5. This information is too valuable to give up. The Nazi medical data excuse. This research is necessary for national security, for the medical and psychological data we obtain, and any other information we steal. To protect freedom and uphold the Constitution, some citizens must be summarily enslaved and tortured.

6. ``She wanted it.'' Like the excuse of the rapist, pretend the victims really wanted the ``attention'' of the mind controllers. This is especially good if Stockholm syndrome can be induced in the victim.

7. Medieval doctor syndrome. Torture and traumatize the victim into a terrible state. Back off the overt harassment a bit. If the victim gets better, claim you cured them. You were only ``helping'' them all along. (``The lobotomy cured the patient's hyperactivity.'')

8. Spread the blood around.The more people who can be made to take part in the crimes, the more support there is for covering them up and continuing them. Spread around the ``spoils'' of the torture. Give foreign governments and intelligence agencies some of the data and technology. Encourage the general public to participate in the harassment and torture of the victims.

9. Appeal to the status quo. Point to how things are now. Claim that surely things would be worse if the secret atrocities had not been committed. Present some ludicrous and dubious scenarios that ``might have happened'' if the Bill of Rights had stood in the way. (The same sort of approach can be taken to show why the secret crimes cannot possibly be exposed...)

10. The victims are only in it for the money. This absurd claim can aid in turning the public against the victims, and can even sow dissension among the victims. People are always suspicious of their purse-strings, and many are just greedy. This claim ignores the fact the most victims first want the torture to stop, and then want to see some sort of justice done. With the facts out, any claims for compensation can be rationally considered in the open. (Calling compensation for years of torture and abuse ``welfare'' is another way to belittle the victims.)

11. It's not really that bad. The current American-style system of political imprisonment and harassment has evolved precisely to evoke that sort of reaction from Americans. As such, it is in many ways a reflection of our society. The system, at the same time, has also evolved to maximize the trauma and terror experienced by the victims. It really is that bad. Victims have to live under constant surveillance for 24 hours a day. They never know when they might be killed or have their brains fried into retardation. They cannot trust their own thoughts because their minds have been repeatedly violated. It is like being a chimpanzee in an aversive conditioning lab with an electrode in the brain. This is carried out in the context of purposely induced trauma and human social ridicule.

    
    

    Denying the Problem

    
    

12. The victims are crazy, the weapons do not exist. The standard lines. Repeat every step of the way. Put the burden of proof on the victim to explain all the technology developed in secret, black projects, and to explain exactly how the effects they experience each day are being caused. Use techniques that mimic mental illness and counter every claim of harassment with a dismissive ``paranoid schizophrenia.'' If some weapons are shown to exist, claim that the government never built any such weapons. If the government is shown to possess such weapons, claim that they would never, ever use them in the way that has been alleged.

13. Silence the whistleblowers. Harass them. Destroy their careers. Threaten their families. Make them the next victims.

14. ``Chomskyize'' the whistleblowers. If someone cannot be intimidated, if they are too well-known, and if their careers cannot be completely ruined, ignore them. That is, actively ignore them. If too many of their facts and analyses cannot be refuted, then they are left out of the debate. Everything proceeds as if the person had never said anything.

15. Claim, ``the system works.'' Repeat this again and again to make it more true. Sure there are some problems, but the system is working. You just need to follow channels, hire lawyers, and lobby for your cause (even if that cause is stopping the torture of American citizens by their government). Some of these things are worth doing, but not because the system works. The system only works to maintain the status quo. In intelligence matters, even more than others, the system is corrupt to the point where it is simply evil. Intelligence agencies routinely lie, even to Congress, which may or may not be aware of it.

    
    

    Manipulating and Turning Away From Individual Victims

    
    

16. Straightforward harassment. Death threats, threats against family and friends, surveillance, ridicule, attempts to demean, rumormongering. Attacks with secret weapons inside the home, harassment on the street. Psychological warfare attacks, especially with feedback from surveillance. This is a chapter in itself.

17. Aww, poor baby. You went and got yourself tortured. You must have done something to deserve it. This really fits in with the demeaning aspects above, but I've put it here because it illustrates an attitude that extends beyond just the harassers.

18. Call the victim naive. Imply that the harassment is normal, and that the victim should have known that all along. ``The natural order of things'' and other such supremacist crap. Everybody knows -- but at the same time it is not happening at all and the victim is crazy.

19. If only you hadn't done that! Imply that help is on the way, and that you have the power to aid the victim. Build up the sense that help is just around the corner. Watch the victim, and when they do something you want to train them out of, cry, ``If only you hadn't done that!'' That is, no help will be forthcoming, and now it is the victim's fault. This works well with good cop/bad cop routines. It also works well in conjunction with other harassment. If the victim is really desperate, traumatized, and in fear for their life it can work over and over again.

20. If only you would do this... If only the victim would modify his or her life in the prescribed way, then the harassment would stop or the rescuers could help. This is direct behavior modification: Only by conforming and following orders can you be free. Once you change one thing, there is always another. Later on, the ``rescuers'' may say, ``We cannot help you, but aren't you so much better off for following our directions?'' The fact that you cooperated with harassers posing as rescuers may be used to imply that you consented to the harassment.

21. The harassers need to save face. This is used to get victims to back off from their complaints, and to get activists to tone down their activities. The claim is that somehow things will be magically worked out behind the scenes if only the torturers could do it in a face-saving way. The fact that this has not happened in fifty years is not mentioned. It is basically a lie to stall for time, and stonewalling and delay is the preferred technique of escaping accountability. I call a Nazi a Nazi.

22. You have to wait in line. The implication is that there is some secret process of justice working behind the scenes, and your turn is coming. You are selfish for wanting to jump ahead in line! This system is overloaded (which is no excuse, even if such a system did exist) but if you put up with torture for a few more years you may come to the top of the list. See u above.