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Defending the Defenders

| Tue May. 5, 2009 10:00 AM PDT

Ex-Bush Officials Launch Bid to Soften Interrogation Report

Former Bush administration officials are lobbying behind the scenes to push Justice Department leaders to water down an ethics report criticizing lawyers who blessed harsh detainee interrogation tactics, according to two sources familiar with the efforts.

In recent days, attorneys for the subjects of the ethics probe have encouraged senior Bush administration appointees to write and phone Justice Department officials, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is not complete.

Can't say as I blame them, I guess. But surely they realized that someone at DOJ would rat them out, didn't they?

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Kevin Drum is a political blogger for Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here.

Comments

Maybe a little recorded

Submitted by felinecannonball on Tue May. 5, 2009 10:35 AM PDT.

Maybe a little recorded message should be added to the elevator music they play when you're being connected through: "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." . . . It seems to me that being defended by noisy outspoken policy makers sort of runs counter to the most obvious defense strategies. Namely, arguing that they were not unduly influenced by policy makers.

Related to defending the

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue May. 5, 2009 11:48 AM PDT.

Related to defending the defenders and perhaps even scarier, is when the psychs decide that torture is not just A-OK, but ethical: Military Psychologist Says Harsh Tactics Justified " Lefever's message is clear: Mitchell and Jessen and the other psychologists involved in this work should be not reviled but lauded. To Lefever, they are patriots who deserve praise. ... Ethical Standard: The Most Good For The Most People From Lefever's perspective, the notion that psychologists behaved in an unethical manner is absurd; a product, he believes, of a fundamental misunderstanding of the psychologists' true ethical obligations. Because psychologists are supposed to be do-gooders, Lefever says, "the idea that they would be involved in producing some pain just seems at first blush to be something that would be wrong, because we 'do no harm.' " But in fact, says Lefever, "the ethical consideration is always to do the most good for the most people." Under this logic, after the horrors of Sept. 11 it was only natural for the psychologists involved in the SERE training to come forward and propose the application of those techniques to people detained by the U.S. government. The American people, after all, were under threat. "America's house was broken into on 9/11 and someone had to raise their hand to stop it," says Lefever. "And early on there was a sense of desperation in intelligence-gathering." In the face of that desperation, says Lefever, psychologists felt a need to act. Though today there is intense controversy around the idea that harsh interrogation tactics produce accurate information, at the time, says Lefever, it was "absolutely clear" to the psychologists in the SERE programs that the harsh interrogation tactics worked. "You know, the tough nut to crack, if you keep him awake for a week, you torture him, you tie his arms behind him, you have him on the ground — anyone can be brought beyond their ability to resist," says Lefever. In The Name Of America And from Lefever's perspective, it would actually have been unethical for them not to suggest the use of these tactics on the few individuals who might be in a position to provide information that could potentially save thousands of American lives. "America is my client; Americans are who I care about," says Lefever. "I have no fondness for the enemy, and I don't feel like I need to take care of their mental health needs." Lefever says all of the military psychologists he knew felt this way. Their client was America, and "do no harm" meant that psychologists should work in every way to save the lives of the Americans they had pledged themselves to serve. Civilian psychologists usually interpret "do no harm" in a more narrow way, as an exhortation to protect the life of the individual sitting in front of them. "

Their client was America?

Submitted by smitisan on Tue May. 5, 2009 12:15 PM PDT.

So America needed counseling, is that what they're saying? Since when is it the obligation of psychologists to do what their clients tell them to? You There! Bend over and listen to the voices in my pants! "You signed the papers. You wanted to be here!" -Drill Sgt. Leach, 1971

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