rssHow Do You Become ‘Appropriately Prepared’ to Be Waterboarded Anyway?
Monday, April 20, 2009 at 3:16 pm
- 2 Comments
From an MSNBC interview today with Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who’s slamming the Obama administration for its recent release of Bush-era memos justifying various methods of torture on suspected terrorists:
You never tell your enemy what you know or what you’re going to do, and this is an example. Regardless of the fact that there may have been hints about this in various news publications, it’s official now that this is what the United States does or doesn’t do, and it gives our enemies a chance to be appropriately informed and appropriately prepared for being prisoners of the United States. And so we’re telling the world what we do. And so any information you hope to get from prisoners, you aren’t going to get.
It’s interesting to note that about an hour before Grassley made these comments, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), himself a subject of wartime torture, reiterated his view that the information Grassley fears will be lost is worthless anyway.
I can assure you that once enough physical pain is inflicted on someone they will tell that interrogator whatever they think they want to hear.
2 Comments
Comment posted April 24, 2009 @ 11:52 am
Which is why interrogation does not depend on the infliction of physical pain. The whole purpose is to gain ACCURATE intelligence, not to be told what the subject THINKS you want to hear. Interrogation depends on the subject believing in his entire being that you can/will do something for which he is completely unprepared: something unknown and scary, something which shakes him loose of his predetermined moorings.
“…I'll never talk, they can't make me. But I didn't know they would do THAT…”
Interrogation doesn't work if it hurts, it works if it's scary.
Comment posted April 24, 2009 @ 6:52 pm
Which is why interrogation does not depend on the infliction of physical pain. The whole purpose is to gain ACCURATE intelligence, not to be told what the subject THINKS you want to hear. Interrogation depends on the subject believing in his entire being that you can/will do something for which he is completely unprepared: something unknown and scary, something which shakes him loose of his predetermined moorings.
“…I'll never talk, they can't make me. But I didn't know they would do THAT…”
Interrogation doesn't work if it hurts, it works if it's scary.
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