Did the White House appoint top Bush-era Gitmo and Abu Ghraib psychologist to a WH task force?

[Bluebear]

This started out as a story about a White House task force appointment, the source being (an) article by Glenn Greenwald from last Friday. Greenwald begins:

One of the most intense scandals the field of psychology has faced over the last decade is the involvement of several of its members in enabling Bush's worldwide torture regime. Numerous health professionals worked for the U.S. government to help understand how best to mentally degrade and break down detainees. At the center of that controversy was -- and is -- Dr. Larry James. James, a retired Army colonel, was the Chief Psychologist at Guantanamo in 2003, at the height of the abuses at that camp, and then served in the same position at Abu Ghraib during 2004.

Today, Dr. James circulated an excited email announcing, "with great pride," that he has now been selected to serve on the "White House Task Force entitled Enhancing the Psychological Well-Being of The Military Family." In his new position, he will be meeting at the White House with Michelle Obama and other White House officials on Tuesday .

For his work at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, Dr. James was the subject of two formal ethics complaints in the two states where he is licensed to practice: Louisiana and Ohio. ... The complaints detailed how James "was the senior psychologist of the Guantánamo BSCT, a small but influential group of mental health professionalsu whose job it was to advise on and participate in the interrogations, and to help create an environment designed to break down prisoners."

Truncated at 4 paragraphs. Read more at:

http://www.americablog.com/2011/04/did-white-house-appoint-top-bush-era.html

for the White House's two explanations.

[ClarkUSA]

1. Wrong. Glenn was lying. Again. The WH debunked Greenwald's bullshit accusation last week.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. Did you read the post he linked to

The WH may have had two versions of the story.

[ClarkUSA]

12. I don't read linked bullshit. The WH has categorically denied this Greenwald lie.

[MannyGoldstein]

13. Don't read to find out. Well, at least Bush proved that you can be President

I guess this is a great country?

[EFerrari]

16. Calling Greenwald a liar when he has shown the email that was sent out

doesn't make him look bad.

[Luminous Animal]

18. That would be a perhaps, a Larry James lie. The White House did admit

that they uninvited James.

""Several members of the White House staff are convening a meeting with multiple mental health professionals on Tuesday to discuss issues pertaining to the wellness of military families. SAMHSA and the American Psychological Association have both been asked to attend. We understand that Dr. James is involved with these groups and may have been indirectly invited to attend this meeting.

She claims, however, that he now will not be at that meeting, and further states that "Dr. James has not been appointed to serve in any capacity with the White House.""

I don't think you know what categorically means because that looks like equivocation to me.

I find it curious that Dr. James has refused to comment. Well... not exactly curious. The man has powerful friends and no doubt he wants to keep his job.

[ReggieVeggie]

14. lying?

got any proof of that?

[Egnever]

2. No, but dont let that stop you from trying to misinform people

In your typical dishonest way.

[dennis4868]

11. remember....

this is DU where facts are not necassary when it comes to hyperspeculating about Obama.....

[Luminous Animal]

20. Greenwald reported on the contents of an email that originated from a WELL RESPECTED APA MEMBER.

Human rights activists may view him as a vile torturer but he's held leadership positions within the military mental health field and within the APA for many years. He has also won several top behavioral psychology awards. Upon his retirement from the military, he received a well-respected job.

Dr. Larry James is not some podunk academic. He was the Chair of the Dept. of Psychology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the past President of the American Board of Health Psychology AND the President elect for the Division of Military Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

So, one question is, if Dr. Larry James lied, why did he do so?

It is clear from the White House response that he was slated to attend a meeting at the White House on Tuesday and it is also clear from their response that he had been uninvited... and I am glad for that.

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bluerthanblue]

5. there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Some people live in denial.

People can say whatever they like, my ignore list is empty. If what they say isn't true, why should it bother you?

[gratuitous]

6. I think Greenwald got it right before he got it wrong

This story was given a pretty full airing last week, but I'm reminded of the story Ben Bradlee related to Woodward and Bernstein in "All the President's Men." In 1964, Bradlee was working the White House beat for the Washington Post, and LBJ had just won re-election. One of Bradlee's sources in the Johnson White House informed him that Johnson was going to replace J. Edgar Hoover as head of the FBI at long last. Bradlee checked into it, and was satisfied his source was telling the truth.

At a press conference, Bradlee figured he'd set up Johnson to make the announcement, which was eagerly anticipated by quite a bit of the Beltway, and asked about the possibility of replacing Hoover at the FBI. Johnson took the opportunity to publicly spank Bradlee and the Post, and announced that Hoover was Johnson's first choice to remain as the head of the FBI for as long as he wanted. Some of the other reporters chided him, "Thanks a lot, Ben; you stuck us with Hoover for life." Word got back to Bradlee that after leaving the press conference, Johnson confided to an aide, "Tell Ben Bradlee, fuck you."

I think Greenwald got the Dr. James story right, and then without doing anything himself, he got it wrong.

[mattvermont]

8. does this clear anything up?

http://www.truth-out.org/white-house-denies-existence-task-force-ex-guantanamo-psychologist68856

[Bluebear]

15. White House denies? Oh, yeah, that's all clear.

[MannyGoldstein]

9. Reminds me how the White House staff meets with lobbyists

across the street from the White House so the lobbyists don't have to sign the logs. If it ain't "official", it doesn't count.

[dennis4868]

10. This story was debunked....

a thousand times already by many....only those liberals/DUers who love to HYPERSPECULATE about Obama are keeping this story alive....what a joke!

[EFerrari]

17. I'd like to know who is lying, the White House or the torturer.

He's a department head at that college. You'd think if he was lying to the whole school, the college administration would frown on that.

[Luminous Animal]

19. Really? You've talked with Dr. Larry James and confirmed that the contents of his email was false?

Please dish because he is not speaking to reporters.