Music

The CIA used Irish boyband Westlife to torture terror suspects

by Jeremy Mersereau

And we thought waterboarding was bad. The American Civil Liberties Union is suing two psychologists for their part in devising a torture regimen that included repeatedly playing Irish heartthrobs Westlife’s “My Love”. The syrupy 2000 single was used in conjunction with beatings, sleep deprivation, and stress positions to aid interrogators at a CIA site in Afghanistan. Listen if you dare below:

According to a feature article on the ACLU website, the song was used in the torture of Suleiman Abdullah, a newlywed Tanzanian fisherman who spent more than five years in U.S. custody after being abducted in Kenya by CIA and Kenyan government agents.

At a U.S.-run prison in Afghanistan codenamed “COBALT”, Abdullah was forced to endure weeks of what could charitably be called “intense” interrogation techniques which included ice-cold water dousings, being forced into painful stress positions, sleep and food derivation, and an incessant barrage of Westlife’s “My Love”, broken up only occasionally by heavy metal.

Abdullah was released without charge in 2008. On behalf of him and two other torture victims – one of whom died in custody – the ACLU is suing two psychologists who they say were contracted by the CIA and instrumental in devising the torture techniques used against the prisoners. The ACLU are seeking damages of at least $75,000 from James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, who were both former military psychologists and who, the suit claims, were hired by the CIA to devise and run the detention and torture operations.

Westlife member Kian Egan, for his part, obviously had no knowledge that his former band’s song was being used in such a manner, but conceded “My Love” was probably effective. Egan told Irish broadcaster RTÉ that “If we’re talking about [playing it] repeatedly, it probably only took about two hours to actually crack the poor guy with that one.”