Democracy Now! has a fascinating interview with a psychiatrist who interviewed suspected terrorist Jose Padilla for over 22 hours in an attempt to determine whether he was fit to stand trial after more than 3 years of solitary confinement.

In 1951, psychiatrist Joost Meerloo coined the term "menticide" (literally, mind-killing) to describe the kind of systematic psychological violence that the Chinese inflicted upon American POWs during the Korean War. The term “brainwashing” was coined to describe the process. The basic techniques haven’t changed much since then.

Over the years, these tactics have been embraced by a variety of cults and coercive "treatment" programs in the United States and abroad.

Today, the US government insists that mind-killing is an essential part of their endless war on terrorism. For details of the supposedly super-secret techniques, see Jane Mayer’s excellent New Yorker piece, The Black Sites.”

Somehow, the CIA has become convinced that the only way to obtain intelligence from suspected terrorists is to literally drive them crazy. The stated goal is to reduce the prisoner to complete dependence on the interrogator through “learned helplessness.”

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Angela Hagerty visited Padilla in prison and found him unfit to stand trial. (Just to clarify, she met with him multiple times, she didn’t grill him for 22 hours straight.)

Amongst other serious cognitive and emotional aberrations, Dr. Hagerty observed that the 36-year-old American was furious at his own lawyers for making the government’s job harder:

Also he had developed, actually, a third thing. He had developed really a tremendous identification with the goals and interests of the government. I really considered a diagnosis of Stockholm syndrome. For example, at one point in the proceedings, his attorneys had, you know, done well at cross-examining an FBI agent, and instead of feeling happy about it like all the other defendants I’ve seen over the years, he was actually very angry with them. He was very angry that the civil proceedings were “unfair to the commander-in-chief,” quote/unquote.

And in fact, one of the things that happened that disturbed me particularly was when he saw his mother. He wanted her to contact President Bush to help him, help him out of his dilemma. He expected that the government might help him, if he was “good,” quote/unquote. [Democracy Now!]

There’s a guy who’s well equipped to participate in his own defense. He finally loves Big Brother!

Over Dr. Hagerty’s objections, Padilla was deemed fit to stand trial for conspiracy to murder people abroad and providing material support to terrorists operating in Bosnia, Chechnya and other foreign countries. A Florida court found Padilla guilty on all counts, Thursday.

By destroying Padilla, the government cheated us all out of justice. If Padilla had gotten the speedy trial that he was entitled to as an American citizen, he might have been legitimately convicted while he was still of sound mind. Instead, the government tortured an American citizen and thereby undercut the legitimacy their prosecution.