29-11-2010, 02:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 29-11-2010, 02:31 PM by Peter Presland.)
Well, I've watched the whole thing and to say it is disturbing is an understatement.
I can't really add much to Jan's review above which is comprehensive. Just a couple of points:
1. The musical selections are absolutely outstanding; not just for their standing in their own right but for the way in which they complement the information being conveyed. I'm not a particular fan of classical opera/liturgy but the pathos of a couple of the pieces used and the context of their use caused tears to well.
2. Perhaps the most shocking thing for me was confirmation of the depths of moral depravity to which the medical - and other - professions will stoop just so long as they are provided with funding and political cover. Yes I knew about it before watching this but it is conveyed here with real emotional force - Dress it up in scientific language; make sure your paper has copious footnotes and is written in a bland matter of fact manner and most of your peers will not notice that your work amounts to the calculated torture of the helpless/innocent. It really is chilling stuff.
I didn't read it as claiming that MKULTRA and derivatives were ultimately unsuccessful though. OK - in their own original terms maybe. It certainly described their limitations but I found the linkage of the KUBARK manual to Guantanamo and military training/conditioning generally to be very persuasive. I certainly concur with Jan' s conclusion:
It's a long video - and it's subject matter so abhorrent as to make it difficult to take in a single sitting. Well worth the effort though.
I can't really add much to Jan's review above which is comprehensive. Just a couple of points:
1. The musical selections are absolutely outstanding; not just for their standing in their own right but for the way in which they complement the information being conveyed. I'm not a particular fan of classical opera/liturgy but the pathos of a couple of the pieces used and the context of their use caused tears to well.
2. Perhaps the most shocking thing for me was confirmation of the depths of moral depravity to which the medical - and other - professions will stoop just so long as they are provided with funding and political cover. Yes I knew about it before watching this but it is conveyed here with real emotional force - Dress it up in scientific language; make sure your paper has copious footnotes and is written in a bland matter of fact manner and most of your peers will not notice that your work amounts to the calculated torture of the helpless/innocent. It really is chilling stuff.
I didn't read it as claiming that MKULTRA and derivatives were ultimately unsuccessful though. OK - in their own original terms maybe. It certainly described their limitations but I found the linkage of the KUBARK manual to Guantanamo and military training/conditioning generally to be very persuasive. I certainly concur with Jan' s conclusion:
Quote:My own position is that these programmes were partially successful, certainly in their ability to erase real memories, create false memories, and programme people to behave, temporarily, in ways in which they would not otherwise behave.It's also notable how many times it is stressed that the paper trail ends in 1973. Which is very different from claiming an end to this class of experimentation; in fact pointedly so - and with good reason I suspect.
It's a long video - and it's subject matter so abhorrent as to make it difficult to take in a single sitting. Well worth the effort though.
Peter Presland
".....there is something far worse than Nazism, and that is the hubris of the Anglo-American fraternities, whose routine is to incite indigenous monsters to war, and steer the pandemonium to further their imperial aims"
Guido Preparata. Preface to 'Conjuring Hitler'[size=12][size=12]
"Never believe anything until it has been officially denied"
Claud Cockburn
[/SIZE][/SIZE]
".....there is something far worse than Nazism, and that is the hubris of the Anglo-American fraternities, whose routine is to incite indigenous monsters to war, and steer the pandemonium to further their imperial aims"
Guido Preparata. Preface to 'Conjuring Hitler'[size=12][size=12]
"Never believe anything until it has been officially denied"
Claud Cockburn
[/SIZE][/SIZE]