Every interrogation starts with analysis. That is, getting to know the detainee, researching their background, exploring their relationships with others, reviewing any available information and figuring out what makes them tick -- their background, motivations, what drove them into violent extremism and a baseline of how the detainee responds to questions.
To do this, an interrogator needs a detainee's trust, which is best developed by establishing rapport. Only then can interrogators leverage their knowledge to convince a detainee to engage with the interrogator, with a goal of obtaining accurate and reliable information. Every good interrogator can tell you this method of building rapport and evidence based-interrogation practices is the most effective and efficient manner in which professionals obtain intelligence and evidence from detainees. But others would have you think otherwise, such as Jose Rodriguez, the former CIA officer famous for destroying the torture tapes, whose new book Hard Measures argues that torture was necessary and saved lives. It's instructive to ask why, despite all the evidence to the contrary, those involved continue to advocate methods that are both unlawful and ineffective and why they continue to mislead.
Consider the first factor mentioned above: analysis. Like other torture advocates, Rodriguez wasn't a trained interrogator and lacked meaningful experience with Al Qaeda. Instead of asking experts and professionals who have had tremendous success acquiring intelligence and evidence from terrorist suspects, he turned to psychologists who lacked any experience in the art of interrogation and who had no experience with Al Qaeda. They failed to listen to subject matter experts, and without a meaningful experience base, or evidenced-based research, they created the unlawful techniques that have come to be called Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, a euphemism for torture and abuse. It's unfortunate that they didn't turn to any of the professional interrogators with years of experience, who could have pointed them elsewhere, to techniques used with great success by the U.S. military as far back as World War II and those same rapport-based approached that have proven extremely effective against Al Qaeda over the years.
The public should realize that this is not a debate about whether or not torture works. There is no validated evidence that would lead anyone to that conclusion. This appears merely one more torture apologist misinforming the public with unsupported claims that they had to torture detainees to save lives, when the reality is that it has done just the opposite. We will never know how many new terrorists Al Qaeda was able to recruit, how much funding Al Qaeda was able to obtain and how the implementation of these misguided tactics have hardened resistance and emboldened Al Qaeda. What it has done is produced both inaccurate and unreliable information and it's very use became part of the Al Qaeda narrative.
What Congressional hearings into these matters also established is that these misguided tactics were the basis for the use of unlawful practices at Guantanamo Bay and those tactics further spread into Iraq and contributed to the abuses at Abu Ghraib. The final damage done will continue to unfold, as we look to bring terrorists to justice before Military Commissions and defense counsels shine light on the employment of these tactics.
What the evidence does support, is what professionals who have been combating terrorists and working against Al Qaeda for years have known. Torture's effectiveness is based in obtaining propaganda and has most often been used by our adversaries to mislead. It's unfortunate that some of those who have employed these techniques continue to mislead.
To obtain accurate and reliable information, the evidence is also clear... torture is illegal, immoral, ineffective and inconsistent with American values.
Jonathan Hafetz: Even Terrorists Deserve to Be Sentenced
When publicized, enhanced interrogation (torture), along with murder, kidnapping (rendition) and indefinite detention (hostage taking), torture is likely an effective technique for terrorizing a targeted population and possibly getting some in the targeted population to collaborate out of fear.
Evidence from around the world, and notably in South America, suggests that the political consequences are likely to be negative - since terrorism makes enemies.
That's all very interesting but what is important is that ....
Torture is immoral.
Immoral? Depends. There are higher goods, higher moralities. Like survival of the nation.
Ineffective? Nonsense. The reason it is employed is that it is very effective. If it were not, it would not be employed.
You REALLY need to do some very basic research on this issue before you say something so dumb and demonstrably incorrect....
Remember, torture extracted extensive and detailed descriptions of witchcraft. Despite the fact that there were precious few witches. Agonized Jews confessed to the sacrifice of infants - the terrible blood libel accustions.
What torture DOES do, is to win elections, control terrorized populations and make the afraid and ineffective feel in control.
Beware the ignorant man with a sense of entitlement.
I know from my experience as a U.S. Army interrogator in Iraq that torture does not work. Nonviolent, legal techniques are used by dedicated CIA, FBI, military and intelligence professionals the world over with great success. These techniques reflect the wisdom and strategic vision that are also shared by our own legal system -- that one cannot overcome a barbaric foe by turning his barbarism against him. To win, one must rise above it.
JOHN A. McCARY
ATjr.
Semper Fi
Fellow Vet.
I never liked GWB much, but at least he's kept quiet after his years of destruction. Guys like this want to profit from their own destructive behavior when they should shut up and thank President Obama that they are not in jail.
Thank you.
Expecting to get something out from Torture is against the Reason of Human Right Concept. Since human is existing because we honor the Human Value. The method of Torturing other human being, including enemy, is against our BELIEF, the Human Right to live and the value to be not less than one who tortures. The argument of extracting information effectively by Torture is a subject debatable. It is no value if one debates and argue the ABSOLUTE VALUE of HUMAN RIGHTS. That is WHY the Geneva Trearty kicked in to protect all that. The world believe TORTURE IS ILLEGAL. Period.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42880435/ns/today-today_news/t/cia-chief-waterboarding-aided-bin-laden-raid/
So please, back up your "facts" with "sources".
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42880435/ns/today-today_news/t/cia-chief-waterboarding-aided-bin-laden-raid/#.T5358lLThEM
P.S. I don't think my friend's statement always holds true -- depends on the frame of mind (open or not) of the listener, of course.
You can say crazy, or you can say belief.......
So if you have a guy that has more faith than you that the afterlife (and God) exists..... how on earth do you think that torture is going to make an impression........................
Totally crazy!
Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld, Ms. Rice, Mr. Rove and the rest should be living out their days in prison; they acted not only improperly but illegally, bringing shame upon our country and exposing it to additional attacks.