The interrogation techniques used against detainees in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, including those that lead to the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, originated from a Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA) program that trained U.S. military personnel in resistance to torture known as Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) .

“Deputy General Counsel for Intelligence [for the Defense Department] Richard Shiffrin called and asked for a list of psychological and physical pressures used in SERE training..JPRA provided a list of techniques that included stress position, waterboarding, slapping, sleep disruption, and sensory deprivation,” said Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich).

“Mr. Shiffrin testified that part of the reason the general counsels office sought the information was its interest in reverse engineering the techniques for use offensively in detainee interrogations.”

Colonel Steven M. Kleinman, who spent a substantial portion of his career focusing on interrogation and human intelligence, said that this approach did not work properly. The SERE model was based on combatting a Cold War method that was designed to aid in the creation of propaganda and not the eliciting of information.

“Our approach to interrogation has failed to keep pace with our understanding of the operation environment and behaviorial sciences. Interrogation continues to be viewed as a relatively simple task that can be assigned to our most junior personnel,” said Kleinman.

“I join my voice with Joshua and the thousands around the country who are calling for Sen. McCain to go back and to clarify, and to speak as he spoke at one time simply to say that torture cannot be justified,” said former torture victim and Purple Heart Recipient Father Roy Bourgeois. He, and others spoke in a teleconference to discuss what they see as Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) policy shift on the use of torture as interrogation techniques.

Joshua Casteel, a former U.S. military interrogator who served at the Abu Ghraib prison camp said that he was initially very proud to hear from Captain Ian Fishback, who publicized the views of McCain against torture techniques. He said these views contrasted those of Vice President Dick Cheney. Casteel went on to say that McCain seems to have changed his tune. He concluded by saying, “As a former interrogator myself, and with friends of interrogators and torturers, we are simply saying we want old Senator McCain back.”

USAction Program Director Alan Charney also stated that Sen. McCain is the only US senator to have changed his position on the issue, referencing McCain’s decision to negotiate with President Bush over habeas corpus legislation, and his decision to vote against legislation containing provisions that would have prevented the CIA from waterboarding prisoners. This past month, McCain also blasted the Supreme Court for its ruling in Boumediene v. Bush, holding that the executive branch must respect habeas corpus rights even when dealing with enemy combatants.

Joshua Casteel, a former interrogator who served at the Abu Ghraib prison camp, says that special forces and CIA interrogators openly laughed at him for “going soft” in his techniques. He also says he learned from other interrogators that techniques he considers well within the bounds of torture were utilized, such as inducing hypothermia (1:04).

 

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Father Roy Bourgeois, a former torture victim and Purple Heart Recipient calls on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to clarify his stance on torture in light of the senator’s voting record on the issue (:28).

 

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Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs says that North Korea’s human rights record is abysmal, and every day that it continues is an unacceptable day of oppression. He also says that he has seen satellite images of North Korea’s extensive prison camp system, and has also seen reports of torture, forced abortion and even execution. He concludes by saying that the US remains committed to combating these injustices (:52).

 

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When asked about water boarding, former Attorney General John Ashcroft said that it has proved very valuable. The intelligence received from enhanced interrogation techniques has saved the lives of Americans. President Bush has a duty to do everything within the law and within his power to work against terrorist attacks. (1:30)

 

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Former Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke at the fifth part of a hearing entitled “From the Department of Justice to Guantanamo Bay: Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation Rules.” Ashcroft defended the Department of Justice’s action in Guantanamo Bay, saying that they worked within the framework of the law and never supported torture. (more…)

Colonel Will Gunn, retired legal council for the Department of Defense office of military commissions, says the use of coercive testimony is still allowed as long as it was obtained before 2005, this is a fundamental shift in the U.S. system of justice. Gunn said that the United States’ actions amount to second hand justice. (1:10)

 

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The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing today about how the Bush Administration’s railed detainee policies have hurt the fight against terrorism. The witnesses discussed the lower credibility of the United States’ action in Guantanamo Bay from a legal perspective. (more…)

Dr. Allen Keller says that ‘enhanced interrogation’ is still torture at a discussion hosted by the National Endowment of Democracy (NED). Keller says that if it looks like torture and smells like torture, then it is torture. He also reiterates that water boarding is simulated drowning, not just something that sounds like a sport, and emphasizes that language has meaning. (0:26)

 

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