The Development of Modern Institutionalized Psychological Torture as a Means of Interrogation

In the 1950’s, Scottish psychiatrist Ewen Cameron started experimenting upon his own patients which ushered in the modern age of the psychological techniques leveraged by governments to extract information from high value targets and low level targets alike. In 1951, the U.S., the U.K., and Canada began developing the Survival Evasion Resistance Escape program, abbreviated as “SERE” (pronounced “sear”) designed for when domestic soldiers became captured by enemy forces (e.g. aircraft shot down over enemy lines) as well as techniques which could be used against captured Soviets. This research became dominant within Canadian universities for almost a decade, with researchers beginning similar psychiatric experiments within psychiatric hospitals in the U.K. In the U.S. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency dominated most research and had over 160 secret projects within 80 institutions, comprising a total of $25,000,000 ($25 million) allocated for human experimentation. This project was code named “MK Ultra”. In 1963, many of Cameron’s psychological experiments were codified for the first time and compiled within the Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation hand guide, a book which is now declassified and freely available online. The term “kubark” is a cryptonym, the name for the Central Intelligence Agency itself. This content became the foundation for the method of psychological interrogation and psychological torture which the Central Intelligence Agency disseminated across the U.S. intelligence community and worldwide among allies for 30 years after its initial release. Since the 1950’s, confirmed cases backed by evidence and testimony of these techniques of torture being used have been recognized or admitted to by governments in 28 nation states including Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Borneo, Brazil, British Guyana, British Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Cuba, the UK, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lithuania, Morocco, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Vienna, and Yemen

Whilst I rarely if ever will submit an opinion upon this blog, I feel that it is important to state that the Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation hand guide is now declassified and been made public. To educate yourself so that these techniques cannot be used against you, click here to read the Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation hand guide

The Ancient City of Cappadocia in Modern Day Derinkuyu, Turkey

The underground cave site of Derinkuyu, Turkey, commonly referred to as “Cappadocia”, is an underground network of caves and tunnels which date back to the prehistoric era, as evidence of stone tools have been uncovered at the site. Experts believe that 20,000 – 60,000 people inhabited the Cappadocian caves with indication of air vents and water wells making it theoretically possible to live underground for extended periods of time, spanning years even. Stone wheels made of volcanic basalt were fashioned to create what’s referred to as “self sealing doors”. The rocks would be rolled in front of a pathway making entry impossible for invaders due to the inability to gain leverage. The only possibility of entry would be to cut through this wheel, often up to 1’ thick in width, which would waste valuable time giving those upon the other side time to prepare a counter attack

The Insatiable Demand for Chinese Silk and Illegally Exporting Silk into Europe

Historically recorded Chinese accounts by monastic Chinese scholars state that a handful of monks sent to China by the Roman emperor Justinian, smuggled silkworms out of China within the hollowed out shoots of bamboo canes and brought this cargo to Constantinople which is modern day Istanbul, Turkey so that the silk textile trade could be exported from China for the first time in recorded history. For over 2000 years Constantinople was considered the crossroads of the world, the nexus at which the west and east converged. Silk soon took off as one of the most in demand and profitable industries within Istanbul’s long and fascinating history. It should be noted that these accounts are thought by many scholars to be a work of fiction