Tag: terrorist

Where it all begins, Part 1

Posted on by kathiemm

By Kathie MM

Most children, in this country and much of the rest of the world, have been subjected to considerable verbal and psychological violence, and often physical violence, by the age of two—and it may only get worse. The “terrible twos” often means terrible treatment.

Toddlers are routinely yelled at, sworn at, called names, threatened. They are shaken, slapped on the hands or buttocks, sometimes slapped in the face, spanked, sometimes hit with switches, kicked, beaten—and all of these things may happen in what people think of as “good homes.”

Given the level of violence in families, it should not be surprising that in day care and nursery schools, children are heard yelling, “I hate you, I’m going to kill you!” They don’t need to watch TV to learn these messages.

Robert J. Burrowes has written passionately about the likely outcomes of violence against children.

Here is an example of what he has to say:

“The man who inflicts violence on women was damaged during childhood. The white person who inflicts violence on people of colour was damaged during childhood. The employer who exploits workers was damaged during childhood.

The individual who endorses the state violence inflicted on indigenous peoples was damaged during childhood. The terrorist, the political leader who wages war and the soldier who kills in our name were all damaged during childhood.

The person who supports structures of violence (such as the military, police, legal and prison systems) was damaged during childhood.

The person who supports structures of exploitation (such as capitalism and imperialism) was damaged during childhood. The person who thoughtlessly participates in destruction of the natural environment was damaged during childhood.”

What do you think of Burrowes’ argument?

Do you have other explanations for this country’s high level of engagement in violence?

Clearly poverty and racism can also damage children but hordes of violent people are reapers rather than victims of those social ills. If we really want to reduce violence in and by our country, we better play closer attention to what we do in our homes.

Please share your views.

Torture quiz

Posted on by kathiemm

Question: What is the significance of June? Answer: June is Torture Awareness Month.

Guantanamo prisoners
Detainees at Camp x-Ray, Guantanamo Bay. Image in public domain.

Question: What is the significance of Guantanamo? Answer: Guantanamo is the symbol of American shame and self-degradation.

Fact: Our government has physically and psychologically tortured innocent men, and has kept them locked in a hellhole to the point that they are starving themselves.

Question: Why? Answer: The government fears that after the treatment those men have received at the hands of American henchmen, they may become terrorists if they return to their home countries.

Plea: Please watch this video and see the presentation of this infographic. Increase your awareness of what has been done by a government that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Question: What does it take to get citizens to understand that torture, by any name, not only violates human rights, but also may be the most effective tool in the world for creating terrorists?

Answer: Recognition that the people being tortured are human beings, not animals, and they are being tortured not to get information but to terrorize groups of people designated as the “enemy” or “terrorist,” often on the basis of NO evidence but simply appearance.

Watch protest actions and “There is a man under that hood.”

Question: Does awareness of the inhumane and illegal behaviors of the U.S. government in Guantanamo lead to any sort of protest?

Answer: Yes. Many courageous Americans have undertaken efforts to keep this particular group of torture victims in the public eye. For example, watch this brief video showing what a group of American high school students have done to make a difference.

And visit the sites of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and Witness Against Torture.

These are the beacons that can help us regain some respect within the international community and our own minds and hearts.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Can they call YOU a terrorist?

Posted on by kathiemm

During the Cold War, people–particularly those who called themselves conservatives–often accused individuals they didn’t like of being “dirty Commies.”

The Senator Joe McCarthy era was a scary time for socialists, liberals, artists, writers—anyone who intimidated the right wing, or made conservatives feel inferior. (A chilling treatment of this era can be found in Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Lacuna.)

The Cold War is over, but the U.S. government, with the help of the right wing, has given us new epithets for people distrusted by the right wing. You know the label—“terrorist.”

Consider the wording of the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act (the Ag-gag laws), passed in Missouri, Iowa, and Utah, designed to stop animal rights and environmental activists from reporting abuses on factory farms:

“Special interest extremists continue to conduct acts of politically motivated violence to force segments of society, including the general public, to change attitudes about issues considered important to their causes. These groups occupy the extreme fringes of animal rights, pro-life, environmental, anti-nuclear, and other movements. Some special interest extremists — most notably within the animal rights and environmental movements — have turned increasingly toward vandalism and terrorist activity…to further their causes.” (quote from pdf document from corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council)

How about YOU?

  • Are you concerned about the treatment of animals in factory farms?
  • Are you concerned about the environment?
  • Do you oppose nuclear weapons?
  • Do you consider yourself a feminist? Beware: that’s all it takes for some people to call you a terrorist.

Don’t let the name-callers intimidate you. Joe McCarthy left Congress in disgrace. Follow the lead of the Montreal Raging Grannies  and support nonviolence, humane behavior, and social justice. Better yet, tell us what you are already doing to make a positive difference in this country and in this world, both now during the season of non-violence and throughout the year.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Simply incompatible with American principles

Posted on by kathiemm

Review of Matthew Alexander’s How to break a terrorist: The U.S. interrogators who used brains, not brutality, to take down the deadliest man in Iraq

By Judith Prueitt-Prentice

[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today we are happy to publish a book review by Judith Prueitt-Prentice, who has a Masters in Family Studies,  a special interest in social justice issues, and took my course in the Psychology of War and Peace in the summer of 2011.]

“Torture is counterproductive to keeping America safe and it doesn’t matter if we do it or if we pass it off to another government. The result is the same. And morally, I believe, there is an even stronger argument. Torture is simply incompatible with American principles.” (Alexander, 2008)

The ticking time bomb scenario is a familiar theme in TV and film dramas featuring terrorists. Jack Bower, the reluctant FBI agent in the popular TV series 24 hours, races against the clock to foil deadly anti-government plots. He has a choice:  follow the rules, or beat the crap out of this week’s villain to get the codes to disarm the bomb. Nine times out of ten, the bleeding cowardly terrorist coughs up the codes with seconds to spare and New York, scene of the worst terrorist attack in US history, is made safe once again. Or is it?

In How to Break a Terrorist, Matthew Alexander (a pseudonym),  a seasoned solider, police investigator, and US Army interrogator, describes how he used soft interrogation styles, including knowledge of local culture, negotiation, and compassion, rather than “old school” fear and control, to gain information in hundreds of interrogations.

It was his information, Alexander says, that led to the location of Abu Musab Al  Zarqawi, suspected of being the number two man in Al Qaida, the terrorist organization blamed for the 9/11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center.

Alexander is openly critical of the enhanced interrogation techniques approved by the Bush administration. He believes more American lives have been lost in Iraq due to the use of torture than were lost in the 9/11 attacks.

Alexander’s  book is exciting. It describes webs of intrigue, lies told on both sides, and the often sad true stories of ordinary people who choose to become terrorists in a world of terror.