Blaring Music Used To Abuse War Prisoners

Musicians Band Together To Stop "Common" U.S. Military Practice In Iraq, Guantanamo

(AP)  Blaring from a speaker behind a metal grate in his tiny cell in Iraq, the blistering rock from Nine Inch Nails hit Prisoner No. 200343 like a sonic bludgeon.

"Stains like the blood on your teeth," Trent Reznor snarled over distorted guitars. "Bite. Chew."

The auditory assault went on for days, then weeks, then months at the U.S. military detention center in Iraq. Twenty hours a day. AC/DC. Queen. Pantera. The prisoner, military contractor Donald Vance of Chicago, told The Associated Press he was soon suicidal.

The tactic has been common in the U.S. war on terror, with forces systematically using loud music on hundreds of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, then the U.S. military commander in Iraq, authorized it on Sept. 14, 2003, "to create fear, disorient ... and prolong capture shock."

Now the detainees aren't the only ones complaining. Musicians are banding together to demand the U.S. military stop using their songs as weapons.

A campaign being launched Wednesday has brought together groups including Massive Attack and musicians such as Tom Morello, who played with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and is now on a solo tour. It will feature minutes of silence during concerts and festivals, said Chloe Davies of the British law group Reprieve, which represents dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees and is organizing the campaign.

At least Vance, who says he was jailed for reporting illegal arms sales, was used to rock music. For many detainees who grew up in Afghanistan - where music was prohibited under Taliban rule - interrogations by U.S. forces marked their first exposure to the pounding rhythms, played at top volume.

The experience was overwhelming for many. Binyam Mohammed, now a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, said men held with him at the CIA's "Dark Prison" in Afghanistan wound up screaming and smashing their heads against walls, unable to endure more.

"There was loud music, (Eminem's) 'Slim Shady' and Dr. Dre for 20 days. I heard this nonstop over and over," he told his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith. "The CIA worked on people, including me, day and night for the months before I left. Plenty lost their minds."

Rear Adm. David Thomas, the commander of Guantanamo's detention center, said the music treatment is not currently used at Guantanamo but added that he could not rule out its use in the future.

"I couldn't speculate and I wouldn't speculate but I can tell you it doesn't happen here at Guantanamo and it hasn't happened since I've been here," Thomas, who has been at Guantanamo for a half-year, told AP.

The spokeswoman for Guantanamo's detention center, Navy Cmdr. Pauline Storum, wouldn't give details of when and how music has been used at the prison.

FBI agents stationed at Guantanamo Bay reported numerous instances in which music was blasted at detainees, saying they were "told such tactics were common there."

According to an FBI memo, one interrogator at Guantanamo Bay bragged he needed only four days to "break" someone by alternating 16 hours of music and lights with four hours of silence and darkness.

Ruhal Ahmed, a Briton who was captured in Afghanistan, describes excruciating sessions at Guantanamo Bay. He said his hands were shackled to his feet, which were shackled to the floor, forcing him into a painful squat for periods of up to two days.

"You're in agony," Ahmed, who was released without charge in 2004, told Reprieve. He said the agony was compounded when music was introduced, because "before you could actually concentrate on something else, try to make yourself focus on some other things in your life that you did before and take that pain away.

"It makes you feel like you are going mad," he said.

Not all of the music is hard rock. Christopher Cerf, who wrote music for "Sesame Street," said he was horrified to learn songs from the children's TV show were used in interrogations.

"I wouldn't want my music to be a party to that," he told AP.

Bob Singleton, whose song "I Love You" is beloved by legions of preschool Barney fans, wrote in a newspaper opinion column that any music can become unbearable if played loudly for long stretches.

"It's absolutely ludicrous," he wrote in the Los Angeles Times. "A song that was designed to make little children feel safe and loved was somehow going to threaten the mental state of adults and drive them to the emotional breaking point?"

Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, has been especially forceful in denouncing the practice. During a recent concert in San Francisco, he proposed taking revenge on President George W. Bush.

"I suggest that they level Guantanamo Bay, but they keep one small cell and they put Bush in there ... and they blast some Rage Against the Machine," he said to whoops and cheers.

Some musicians, however, say they're proud that their music is used in interrogations. Those include bassist Stevie Benton, whose group Drowning Pool has performed in Iraq and recorded one of the interrogators' favorites, "Bodies."

"People assume we should be offended that somebody in the military thinks our song is annoying enough that played over and over it can psychologically break someone down," he told Spin magazine. "I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that."

The band's record label told AP that Benton did not want to comment further. Instead, the band issued a statement reading: "Drowning Pool is committed to supporting the lives and rights of our troops stationed around the world."

Vance, in a telephone interview from Chicago, said the tactic can make innocent men go mad. According to a lawsuit he has filed, his jailers said he was being held because his employer was suspected of selling weapons to terrorists and insurgents. The U.S. military confirms Vance was jailed but won't elaborate because of the lawsuit.

He said he was locked in an overcooled 9-foot-by-9-foot cell that had a speaker with a metal grate over it. Two large speakers stood in the hallway outside. The music was almost constant, mostly hard rock, he said.

"There was a lot of Nine Inch Nails, including 'March of the Pigs,"' he said. "I couldn't tell you how many times I heard Queen's 'We Will Rock You."'

He wore only a jumpsuit and flip-flops and had no protection from the cold.

"I had no blanket or sheet. If I had, I would probably have tried suicide," he said. "I got to a few points toward the end where I thought, `How can I do this?' Actively plotting, `How can I get away with it so they don't stop it?"'

Asked to describe the experience, Vance said: "It sort of removes you from you. You can no longer formulate your own thoughts when you're in an environment like that."

He was released after 97 days. Two years later, he says, "I keep my home very quiet."

[impeach___w]

yellow651
You answered your own question, Since when does the rule of law apply to non-US citizens who have declared war on the US?

The reason it that OBL and Al-queda declared war on US in 1996 and 1998. Therefore, they are prisoners of war and have rights as such which Bush violated. That is a war crime. Obama has promised not to prosecute anyone in Bush administration.

The problem was the US did not take the declaration of war seriously until 2001. Then it was too late.

Problem two is that many of the war crime witnesses are FBI agents who asvised that laws were being broken.

Problem three is that the DOJ "ruling" that gave Bush authority to torture and violate Geneva conventions was withdrawn long ago.

[mrmeatspin]

what if we feed them only 2 times a day...

is that torture??

[mrmeatspin]

if we raise our voice when we ask them a question..

is that torture???

[impeach_o]

By lowering ourselves to the level of the Barbarian, we have proven ourselves no better.


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Posted by LloydBest1 at 10:10 AM : Dec 12, 2008
+ report abuse


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I see where these terrorists are coming from..hearing these liberals blast thier liberal bulls*t noise..and funny enough ..these terrorists gets it for free..and the smart enligthetend liberla morons PAY TO BE TORUTRED WITH THIER GARBAGE


FU(KING DUMBARSE LIBERALS

[runningralph]

I have maintained for years that rap and hard metal was having a bad effect on people. I can see where it could be a valuable tool in interrogating terrorists. I called the cops on one of those freaks last week. He got out of his vehicle with his long hair, tattooes, and all kinds of metalic things hanging out of his body and cursed me roundly and declare he wasn''t afraid of cops. Then he jumped back in and headed for the next county. I have done this many times and some people tell me one of the freaks will kill me some day. I''m guessing the freaks are all bark and no bite.

[clovernyc]

Obama is privy to intelligence he did not have as a candidate for the presidency.

He will soon discover if he has not already that there is plenty good reason to keep those prisoners in Gitmo.

[mrmeatspin]

I want Al Franken in charge of gitmo..

that would fix them

[mrmeatspin]

do you know how a liberal tortures a terrorist??

by talking to them in a very insensitive manner..

[impeach_o]

"Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, has been especially forceful in denouncing the practice. During a recent concert in San Francisco, he proposed taking revenge on President George W. Bush.

"I suggest that they level Guantanamo Bay, but they keep one small cell and they put Bush in there ... and they blast some Rage Against the Machine," he said to whoops and cheers. "

these are the same people who is suppose to protect me from these terrorists..

may heaven help us..

[impeach_o]

and when the liberals are in full control of our war on terror..

tea served with one cube of sugar IS TORTURE.
if dinner was served without wine...ITS TORTURE.


if a terrorist does not get to do his job and kill americans.......................................................................LIBERALS WOULD DECLARE IT A VIOLATION OF THIER RIGHTS..

may heaven help us

[yellow651]

Since when does the rule of law apply to non-US citizens who have declared war on the US? I don''t understand why people are trying to undermine the people who are working so hard to keep them safe from harm. If Obama follows through on his promises regarding this issue, it will be interesting to see the reaction when the released terrorists start showing up at the Oscars as suicide bombers.

[rushman71]

I''m sure that no one would be complaining about this if they would have these prisoners listen to Barry Manilow tunes over and over.

"At the Copa, Copa Cabana!!!" LOL

[usclimey]

Liberals don''t like terrorists any more than you hatemongers do. The problem we have is we believe in the rule of law that says "innocent until proven guilty." None of these people have been found guilty of as much as spitting on the sidewalk, but, I''d say the incarceration on a desert island for years with no representation is a pretty harsh punishment without all the torture thrown in. While we are practicing such tactics we have no moral to tell anyone how to run their country.

[JamesB621]

I can''t believe what I''m reading here, and from People who are supposed to be Americans, and "christians" no less. Lord Sun Tsu, I can''t believe that you can blame liberals for seeing just how wrong human rights are, we are Americans yes, and to that end we''re supposed to be able to rise above the kind of behavior that these extremists exhibit, not sink to their level. You don''t have to be a "liberal" to know that, there are a great many of us conservatives who believe that prisoner abuse gets us absolutely nowhere. For the ones who end up being charged with crimes, any of their statements or confessions could end up being ruled as inadmissible in court and they''d receive no prison time beyond what they''ve already served. There''s also the issue of people incarcerated who''ve genuinely committed no crime, what do we say to them? There are a great number of these prisoners who were just rounded up by tribal leaders because they were promised by the US a "per capita" reward for every Arab that they turned over to US forces. I know, I was there, I saw it for myself.
No, you people don''t represent conservatives like myself, or the conservatives that I personally know. You''re just as extremist in your views as they are.

[messiahx4eve]

Hmmmm, sounds like the songs I listen to daily, probably not quite as loud though, LOLOL I have a unique idea, take the kinds of music they listen to and play it full volume and BACKWARDS, or backwards masking their music with rhetoric like: Allah eats the dung of camels, Mohammed is a pedophile, Allah is the great satan, Allah and Mohammed LOVE ham sandwichs and pig roasts, or that Allah or Mohammed would rather be christians. Really torture them by serving pork products four out of seven daily meals, three times a day.

[downsteamjim]

I have been stuck in traffic many times with a nearby car playing something trashy and loud. I handled it so why can''t Allah''s heroes.

[centerfall94]

We cannot preserve who we are or be proud of what we are when we treat others in this way, regardless of what an enemy might do to us. When we do, we cheapen and lessen ourselves - we become the enemy. Being an American and sanctioning torture - of any kind for any reason - is a contradictory concept. If you sanction torture, you''re simply a terrorist, regardless of your nationality. The neocons would have us become the terrorists and thugs. We must not let that happen.

[presjfk]

acdc and Pantera...wow, that is cruel.

[impeach___w]

I can see how that''s tantamount to throwing acid on little girls or driving planeloads of innocent people into buildings. Yep, totally logical.
Posted by clathrate

It would only be justified if it stopped torture. It''s Too bad it became the justfication for torture and that you agree with it.

[clathrate]

That''''s great! That means you have the same mentality and standards as these uneducated ragheads. You must be proud...


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Posted by Displeased

Let''s see, we take these guys in, feed them, clothe them, let htem read these Koran, play soccer, and when they act up, we blare music at them to get them to behave. What horrendous abuse! Oh the humanity!

Yes, I can see how that''s tantamount to throwing acid on little girls or driving planeloads of innocent people into buildings. Yep, totally logical.