WeAreTheKey

With the deep, sewage-infested basement of the Bush Administration being slowly cleaned out, it's no surprise that dark nuggets like this are coming out.

Torture Memo: As Long As You Don't Keep The Guy Awake For More Than 11 Days, It's Fine
By Zachary Roth - April 16, 2009

Here's a taste of the Bush administration's legal rationale, exemplified in one excerpt from the 2002 OLC memo written by Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, about the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, a high-ranking al Qaeda member:

Sleep deprivation may be used. You have indicated that your purpose in using this technique is to reduce the individual's ability to think on his feet and, through the discomfort associated with lack of sleep, to motivate him to cooperate. The effect of such sleep deprivation will generally remit after one or two nights of uninterrupted sleep. You have informed us that your research has revealed that, in rare instances, some individuals who are already predisposed to psychological problems may experience abnormal reactions to sleep deprivation. Even in those cases, however, reactions abate after the individual is permitted to sleep. Moreover, personnel with medical training are available to and will intervene in the unlikely event of an abnormal reaction. You have orally informed us that you would not deprive Zubaydah of sleep for more than eleven days at a time and that you have previously kept him awake for 72 hours, from which no mental or physical harm resulted.

Yeah, I don't think sleep deprivation in itself can be considered torture, up to a point. I think I've done 72 hours before on my own when I was in college and working graveyard shifts. But 11 consecutive days. Not only is that extremely harmful to the individual, if not deadly, but how could you trust any sounds that come out of person's mouth at that point. Insanity!