Posted on 05/30/2012 8:19:49 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Were Tortured With Sesame Street
Guantanamo Bay prisoners were reportedly tortured with the sounds of children’s Sesame Street songs, in an attempt to get them to talk.
Al Jazeera reports that Thomas Keenan, a human rights researcher, explained that:
“Prisoners were forced to put on headphones. They were attached to chairs, headphones were attached to their heads, and they were left alone just with the music for very long periods of time. Sometimes hours, even days on end, listening to repeated loud music.”
Christopher Cerf, the award-winning composer of the songs used to torture prisoners at both Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, was shocked when Al Jazeera broke the news to him that his music was being exploited in such a way. He stated that:
“My first reaction was this just can’t possibly be true…Of course I didn’t really like the idea that I was helping break down prisoners, but it was much worse when I heard later that they were actually using the music in Guantanamo to actually do deep, long-term interrogations and obviously to inflict enough pain on prisoners so they would talk.”
The Huffington Post reports that other songs torturers have used on their victims have included Metallica’s ”Enter Sandman” and Drowning Pool’s “Bodies,” both of which were used in the same way as Sesame Street at Guantanamo Bay.
The Sesame Street, which includes about 200 songs, which are meant to help children learn reading and writing skills, is apparently very effective, considering this is not the first time it was reportedly used for torture. Al Jazeera reports that Cerf went on to say:
“This is fascinating to me both because of the horror of music being perverted to serve evil purposes if you like, but I’m also interested in how that’s done. What is it about music that would make it work for that purpose?”
Cerf, since learning about the powerful effect music seems to have in interrogation work, produced a film entitled “Songs Of War,” in which he embarks on a journey to learn what makes music so powerful. Al Jazeera reports that in the process, he spoke to soldiers, psychologists, and prisoners who were tortured using his music. He also discovered during his travels that the military has been using music as a potent torture weapon for hundreds of years.
All Hail the Great and Mighty Big Bird!
ping
All Hail the Great and Mighty Big Bird!
Oh, the Miss Piggy fantasies...what if the virgins were her sister?
All Hail the Great and Mighty Big Bird!
Oh, the Miss Piggy fantasies...what if the virgins were her sisters?
I doubt for days on end.
I doubt for days on end.
It could have been Barney!
Nancy Pelosi speeches would do it for me.
I agree. it’s wrong to use music like this. Just put the human garbage up against the wall and shoot them starting with the toes...then top of foot... then ankle... and upwards until they comply with requests for info.
That way the musicians can keep a clear conscience. It’s fair.
They no doubt take it up a notch with some Barney tunes if Big Bird and Miss Piggy can’t produce the desired results.
You know you love it.
Yes! Three cheers for BigBird! ( And we hear it was Miss Piggy singing sexy love songs that really break the islamoterroristas down )
Not sure why the link’s being stupid - I’m sure it’s Bush’s fault: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM89T74MPnE
Bow down before the wrath of.... The Muppets!
Ever taken your offspring to Disney World and listened to “It’s a Small World After All” for days on end?
In the Los Angeles radio market they have a commercial which includes the song 1-800-Cars For Kids that makes me want to kill. I would spill the beans after the first refrain.
If the UN Human Rights Commission declares Sesame Street music torture, then maybe we can finally shut down PBS.
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