Funny Torture: The Crazy Rulers of the World, Part TWO [Jon Ronson]

Watch on SubstackIn this installment, Jon Ronson investigates the bizarre and disturbing evolution of psychological warfare, tracing a direct line from the esoteric theories of the "First Earth Battalion" to the interrogation rooms of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.The story begins with a seemingly humorous news report: U.S. forces are using songs from "Barney the Dinosaur" and "Sesame Street" to break Iraqi prisoners. Ronson interviews the songwriters, who are baffled and horrified, and the journalist who first broke the story of Metallica being blasted into shipping containers in the desert.The investigation deepens with the testimony of Jamal Al-Harith, a former Guantanamo detainee, who describes not only deafening industrial noises but also, perplexingly, being made to listen to Matchbox 20 and Kris Kristofferson at a normal volume. This suggests a coordinated program, not random acts.Ronson travels to the heart of the U.S. Army's Psychological Operations (PSYOPs) headquarters at Fort Bragg, where the official line is that they merely provide the equipment when ordered by commanders. But the trail leads back to Jim Channon's influential manual, which advocated using discordant sounds and music to mentally disorient the enemy. These ideas, once considered "folklore," found a real-world testing ground during the 1993 Waco siege, where agents blasted the compound with everything from Nancy Sinatra to the sounds of dying rabbits.The film culminates by connecting this history of experimental, non-lethal tactics to the Abu Ghraib scandal, challenging the official "few bad apples" narrative with evidence that PSYOPs may have directed the infamous photo sessions as part of a calculated psychological strategy.