By Bobby Ghosh
Washington Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2009
Courtesy Of Time Magazine
Waterboarding? Hasn't been used in years. Walling, stress positions, abdominal slaps? They're no longer allowed. But if the CIA can no longer use the interrogation techniques described in chilling detail in the so-called torture memos, what can it do to extract information from terrorism suspects?
On his second day as President, Barack Obama ordered the agency to use the Army Field Manual as its interrogation playbook. The manual, originally written for Cold War prisoners but updated in 2006, states that "no [detainee], regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment as defined in U.S. law." It also categorically states that harsh interrogation techniques are essentially useless. "Beyond being impermissible, these unlawful and unauthorized forms of treatment are unproductive because they may yield unreliable results, damage subsequent collection efforts, and result in extremely negative consequences at national and international levels." (Read about the Army Field Manual.)
But are the available methods effective? According to a retired operative, some at Langley "are convinced that [Obama] has thrown out the baby along with the waterboard." More generally, some veterans say that the rules of the war on terrorism in the Obama era are no longer clear. "It's very much in flux," says Paul Pillar, a former top agency official who now teaches at Georgetown University. "So much is unresolved — like the various habeas cases involving Gitmo detainees. There are lots of shoes yet to drop."
The revised manual allows for 19 interrogation techniques, ranging from offering "real or emotional reward" for truthful answers to repeating questions again and again "until the source becomes so thoroughly bored with the procedure, he answers questions fully and candidly." (Read "The CIA's Willful Ignorance on Harsh Interrogations.")
Some of the most interesting techniques are classified as "emotional approaches." Interrogators are allowed to flatter a detainee's ego, for instance, by praising some particular skill. Alternatively, the interrogators may attack the detainee's ego, by accusing him of incompetence — forcing him to defend himself, possibly giving up information in the process. If interrogators choose to go on the attack, however, they may not "cross the line into humiliating and degrading treatment of the detainee."
In the 2006 revision of the manual, three new techniques were added: the good-cop, bad-cop routine; the "false flag" (allowing interrogators to claim that they are not Americans, if necessary), and, in carefully defined circumstances, separating detainees from one another. Human-rights advocates have argued that isolating captives is a form of cruelty.
See pictures of Guantánamo Bay.
But do the techniques in the manual give interrogators adequate ammunition in the war on terrorism? The military stands firmly by its document. In a May 2007 letter to troops in Iraq, General David Petraeus wrote, "Our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual ... published last year shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting information from detainees."The CIA turned down a request from TIME for comment about current interrogation techniques and the Army Field Manual. But some agency veterans say the manual, while serving as a good starting point, is ultimately inadequate against hardened al-Qaeda operatives. "There's a feeling among [some current agency staffers] that the Army Field Manual is useless against the really bad guys," says a retired CIA staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Typically, these guys have been through brutal torture by the authorities in their own countries — Yemen, Jordan, Egypt — so they're not going to talk if you just tickle the soles of their feet." Although the staffer is himself opposed to the harshest techniques used at Gitmo, he believes several harsh techniques should have been retained.
Even those who oppose all forms of harsh interrogation are not convinced that the Army manual is adequate. Matthew Alexander, a former military interrogator in Iraq, says he found "police interrogation techniques much more appropriate" when questioning al-Qaeda operatives and Sunni insurgents. Alexander, who uses a pseudonym for security reasons, is the author of How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq. His interrogations led to the location and killing of Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi.
Alexander says many of the interrogation tactics used by police forces across the U.S. should be incorporated into the Army's manual. Cops, he says, routinely use various forms of deception to extract information or confessions. "You arrest two suspects — you tell them, separately, that the first one to talk gets a deal," he says. "Every police detective in the U.S. knows this." Another common technique used by cops is to allow a suspect to shift the blame for his crime to something or someone else. "You find out that a suspected child molester was himself molested as a child, and you say, 'It's O.K. We understand why you did it,' " says Alexander. Cops also learn how to take a statement made by one suspect and use it against another. These techniques are not ruled out by the Army manual, but Alexander believes they should be specifically included as recommended techniques.
For those who think the Army manual is inadequate, there's still hope for change. Obama has set up a Special Interagency Task Force on Interrogation and Transfer Policies to, among other things, "study and evaluate whether the interrogation practices and techniques in [the Army Field Manual], when employed by departments or agencies outside the military, provide an appropriate means of acquiring the intelligence necessary to protect the nation, and, if warranted, to recommend any additional or different guidance for other departments or agencies." Chaired by Attorney General Eric Holder, the task force must submit its recommendations by the end of July.
Related Material:
Rollback on Torture? Not So Easy for Obama
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