Psy-Ops, Thought Reform, and Interrogation
"Psy-Ops" were used extensively; we found it, at times, much more useful and strategically sound than the common and often overused traditional warfare tactics. War need not be fought with bullets and artillery shells, necessarily. This is not, however, the psy-ops most think of: offering the enemy what their leader cannot, to cause surrender, regime-directed uprising, and certainty that defeat is nigh. Rather, this was more aimed toward thought reform, as traditional psy-ops practices were vastly unsuccessful. The mind is fragile, and can bend easily. With enough pressure, it can crack. A select few Rahkas were reconditioned, in hopes they would be reintegrated with those of their kind, and serve in espionage for our side. It never quite worked; the information we got was either peppered with half-truths, and some of these reconditioned Rahkas committed suicide rather than do as they were commanded. Sensory deprivation, induced mental status changes and chemical injections were all a basic element in this. Specifically, in regard to the injections, we used thiopental sodium, mescaline, and sodium amytal. The entire operation was experimental, at best. I would estimate that the total effectiveness of the program was less than 60%, as we were still novices in what we were trying to do.
I suppose what we called reconditioning actually bordered on torture. I was almost exclusively in charge of the program. Such practices included, as I said, sensory deprivation. There were actually several types of deprivation, including sleep, food, water, and light. At first, the Rahkas were always strong. They held steadfast to their beliefs and loyalty to the Rahkas regime. However, being denied sleep for days on end, in a completely dark room chest-deep in stagnant water will change just about anyone. I would also interrogate these subjects at all hours of the day and night, completely disrupting any type of natural sleeping schedule they had. Interrogations were always conducted with the help of the chemical agents; and although the so-called "truth serum" did not really force anyone to tell the truth, it did make them much more eager to speak their mind, about absolutely anything. Some were strong-willed, and were not easily manipulated to talk, while others were so easy, I was sure they were spewing lies.
For those not easily coerced to speak, we had other methods. I had a speculem to pry the eyelids open in order that the eyeballs would dry out, and eventually deflate...a horrifyingly painful experience. A maddening experience was the water chamber, in which the subject was restrained in a chamber and alternately blasted with freezing and scalding water. Another form to hasten confessions was to hammer nails or wood chips underneath the beds of the fingernails. Often, the nail would become infected and fall off. Sometimes, a subject would go on a hunger strike; it was in these cases that we would pry their mouths and teeth open, and force feed them an alkali-water solution, with an end result of unbearable thirst.
After I had what some refer to as my mental breakdown, I became brutal for the sake of it: I tore out men's tongues, I tore through a man's ocular nerve to remove an eye. I recall shattering ankles, and then telling these disfigured men to run for their lives, knowing they were unable to do so. Rather than shooting an enemy in the head to kill him, I resorted to putting a single bullet into the throat, so they could choke in their own blood. I severed limbs and cauterized the wound with an open flame. I forced men to drink acid. I took my starving prisoners and fed them wholesome food laced with poison. This was often welcomed, for it was not uncommon that I withheld food to the limit of 25 grams of cornmeal daily. The tasteless and odorless poison made them pass their own organs in a very brutal, excruciating manner. There was so much...I am not sure I can continue in this way. Let's move on to another subject, and this is something we can revisit if necessary.
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