Bushism in Obama's White House

It has just been announced that retired Colonel Dr. Larry James, a psychologist, was elected by the White House to a task force with the purpose of improving the psychological well-being of military families.

Clearly excited about his appointment, made by Michelle Obama in an email, he proudly announced that he would be meeting with the first lady and members of her staff, and that he felt “honored and privileged” to represent the profession of psychology, ending with an assurance that he would keep them informed.

What is remarkable about this? In order to respond, we must refer to some of Barack Obama’s broken promises that were made during his campaign — he has not closed the detention center at the Guantanamo naval base, one of the most aberrant and inhumane disasters created during the George W. Bush era. From that point on, anything can happen. …

Dr. Larry James was the chief psychologist of the Behavioral Science Consultation Teams at Guantanamo. In 2003, when torture and abuse was institutionalized at the camp, this group’s job was to give advice regarding the interrogation of prisoners. In 2004, he had the same role in the Abu Ghraib prison. This was where Pandora’s box was opened.

These prison cells and interrogation rooms have been witnesses to rapes, deaths, sexual and cultural assault and religious humiliation through torturous processes, such as forcing prisoners to be naked in stressful, painful or tiring positions. In addition, detainees were subject to solitary confinement, environments with high levels of noise, sleep deprivation and physical assaults. As if this were not enough, there were simulations of attacks by dogs, asphyxiations and many other abusive practices.

Not only was Dr. James in the whirlwind of this scandal, but he permitted these practices and practically hid them for a time; he was also active in notorious incidents that were described by two law professors, Bill Quigley and Deborah Popowski, and were published by Salon.com.

In 2003, in a United States prison camp, behind a one-way mirror, Dr. Jones witnessed an interrogator and three prison guards fight and scream close to a detainee on the floor. They then forced the detainee to put on women’s underwear, lipstick and a wig. He “opened [his] thermos, poured a cup of coffee, and watched the episode play out, hoping it would take a better turn and not wanting to interfere without good reason.” In addition, he did not report the crime.

For his part, in an interview with “Democracy Now,” Steven Reisner, of the International Trauma Studies Program affiliated with Columbia University and on the faculty of the New York University Medical School, declared that “there is a lot of evidence that has been made public showing that the torture programs in the CIA and at Guantanamo, the Department of Defense, were created and overseen by health professionals, particularly psychologists,” who “[used] their professional expertise to break down the detainees.”

Reisner directly implicated Dr. James in these degrading and tortuous abuses, and now the head psychologist at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib under the Bush administration has written his colleagues and students in an email, saying that he will be a guest at the White House. However, at the Obamas’ executive mansion another thing was said to journalist and writer Glenn Greenwald, who wrote this on Salon.com: The White House states that members from the American Psychological Association were invited, and “we understand that Dr. James is involved with these groups and may have been indirectly invited to attend this meeting,” but “Dr. James has not been appointed to serve in any capacity with the White House.”

Did he really believe it, or was he really invited in spite of his infamous reputation? In any case, the person who should have been repudiated and discredited for grave violations of human rights and medical ethics is currently the head of psychology at Wright University in Ohio and gives lectures — which cost $2,000 per attendee — about the psychology of terrorism. Is this how Bushism is practiced in the United States and the White House?