The Life Of A CIA Interrogator

Education Of An Interrogator: Questioning The CIA -- NPR

Glenn Carle's bosses asked him if he could go on a trip — one that would last somewhere between 30 and 60 days. His job? To interrogate a man suspected of being a top member of al-Qaida.

It was 2002 and, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. was heavily engaged in its "War on Terror." Carle, a former CIA intelligence officer, was "surged" to become an interrogator and sent to one of the agency's secret overseas facilities. He writes about his experience in his new book, The Interrogator: An Education.

Carle tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly that he was told to do whatever it took to make the man talk. When Carle questioned his superiors, saying, "We don't do that," they replied, "We do now."

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My Comment: This is a job that I would have zero interest in taking .... and I have trouble believing that Glenn Carle was not sure on what he was getting into when he first took the job. Was he that ignorant? Hmmmm ... I have my doubts.

Journey Into The CIA's Heart Of Darkness

Photo: Interrogator: Glenn Carle, who has written a tell-all memoir about his time with the agency, said some people would call him a 'torturer'

Journey Into The CIA's Heart Of Darkness: Ex-Agent Reveals 'Torture' Of Terror Suspect In Secret Prison Dubbed 'Hotel California' -- The Daily Mail

Ordered to 'psychologically dislocate' his prisoner
Faced agonising decision after concluding detainee was innocent
Had to tell CIA bosses he was in love with his girlfriend - before he told her

A former CIA operative has described how he was torn between serving his country and refusing to 'torture' a man he believed was innocent.

Glenn Carle has written a shocking new tell-all memoir detailing his time with the agency in which he confessed that some people would call him a 'torturer'.

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Update #1: ‘Some Will Call Me a Torturer’: CIA Man Reveals Secret Jail -- Danger Room
Update #2: "The Interrogator:" A CIA insider's crisis of conscience -- Salon

My Comment: 40% of the book was redacted .... this should givesone an idea on how sensitive this topic still is within the CIA.

U.S. Senator Calls For A Review On CIA Interrogation Techniques, And Did It Help In Finding Bin Laden

Photo: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

Freshman Senator Wants To Know If Waterboarding Helped Nab Bin Laden -- The Hill

Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Thursday advocated for a review to determine whether or not advanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, assisted the CIA in finding Osama bin Laden.

"We need to find out how this information was gathered," Rubio said in an interview with the news website Tampa Bay Online.

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My Comment: I completely agree with Sen. Marco Rubio. In fact .... this is exactly what I said was needed just a few days ago.But will the Democratic controlled Senate and the White House conduct such an investigation and analysis .... as I had said a few days ago .... I doubt it.

I Guess Those Extreme Interrogation Techniques Do Work

Bin Laden's Death Rekindles 'Enhanced' Interrogation Debate -- MSNBC

Did high-pressure questioning of suspected terrorists lead to al-Qaida leader?

The trail that led to the doorstep of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan began years earlier with aggressive interrogations of al-Qaida detainees at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and CIA “black site" prisons overseas, according to U.S. officials.

It was those sometimes controversial interrogations that first produced descriptions of members of bin Laden’s courier network, including one critical Middle Eastern courier who along with his brother was protecting bin Laden at his heavily fortified compound in Abbottabad on Sunday. Both the courier and his brother were among those killed, along with bin Laden, in the dramatic raid by U.S. special forces.

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More News On The Impact That Interrogation techniques May have had On Finding Osama Bin Laden

First strands on bin Laden gathered in CIA prison -- AP
Rep. Michael McCaul: Aggressive interrogations gave U.S. leads on bin Laden location -- Houston Chronicle
One Unwary Phone Call Led US to Bin Laden Doorstep -- ABC News/AP
Will Bin Laden’s Death Reignite the Interrogation Debate? -- Benjamin Wittes, Lawfare
Obama Owes Thanks for Bin Laden Operation to CIA Interrogators -- Marc Thiessen, The American
How the U.S. found and finished Bin Laden -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

My Comment: I still think it is too early to make a judgement call on the effectiveness of enhanced interrogation techniques .... but this information is coming from an administration that has always been opposed to torture .... and they are making it very clear that torturing some of these detainees did produce the information that resulted in Osama Bin Laden being killed this weekend. If this is the case .... some people better start eating crow.

The CIA Is Out Of The Detention And Interrogation Business

CIA Has Slashed Its Terrorism Interrogation Role -- L.A. Times

The agency has stopped trying to detain or interrogate suspects caught abroad, except those captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reporting from Washington — He's considered one of world's most dangerous terrorism suspects, and the U.S. offered a $1-million reward for his capture in 2005. Intelligence experts say he's a master bomb maker and extremist leader who possesses a wealth of information about Al Qaeda-linked groups in Southeast Asia.

Yet the U.S. has made no move to interrogate or seek custody of Indonesian militant Umar Patek since he was apprehended this year by officials in Pakistan with the help of a CIA tip, U.S. and Pakistani officials say.

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My Comment: In the even of another major terrorism attack on U.S. soil, I can hear the chorus line right .... how and why did the CIA fail. Unfortunately for us, harsh interrogations techniques do reveal information, and we in the west are now losing out on this information.

CIA Personnel Will Not Face Criminal Charges For Destroying Interrogation Tapes

No Charges For CIA Tape Destruction: Justice Dept -- Reuters

(Reuters) - No CIA personnel will face criminal charges for destroying videotapes of harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

While the decision will spare the CIA and the Obama administration the potential backlash and embarrassment that a trial could have generated, another federal probe continues into possible abuse of detainees by CIA personnel.

The videotapes probe was launched in January 2008 by then-U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey after revelations that the CIA in 2005 had destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes of the interrogations of terrorism suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

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My Comment: I am surprised by this development. The Justice Department has no love for the CIA and their complicity in using torture in interrogations. Was this a politically motivated judgment .... probably .... will it impact CIA operations in the future .... definitely not.

Is The U.S.'s New Interrogation Unit Effective?

A courtroom sketch depicts Times Square bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad at his arraignment in New York. (Christine Cornell, Reuters / May 17, 2010)

New Interrogation Unit Aids In Questioning Times Square Bomb Suspect -- L.A. Times

Faisal Shahzad is arraigned after he said he no longer wished to speak with interrogators, who included members of a group established to replace a controversial CIA program.

The Pakistani American accused of trying to bomb Times Square has been questioned with the help of a new interrogation unit that replaced a controversial CIA program dismantled by President Obama, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, appeared in court for the first time Tuesday, two weeks after his May 3 arrest. Wearing gray pants and a gray shirt, he was formally advised of the five felony charges against him, including the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. In all, he was told, he faces a maximum punishment of two life sentences plus 60 years.

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Update: Obama Starts Deploying Interrogation Teams -- New York Times/Reuters

My Comment: There is little if any information on the effectiveness of this unit. My take .... if it was we would be hearing from the administration (non-stop) on how great it is. So far .... nothing .... with the exception of one announcement that mentions that these units have been deployed more than once.

New Rules On Interrogating Terrorism Suspects Proposed

Under Plan, Intelligence Agencies Would Be Consulted Before Reading Of Rights -- Washington Post

The Justice Department and the FBI will consult with the intelligence community on information about terrorism suspects arrested in the United States before deciding whether to read them their Miranda rights under a plan now under review in the White House, according to senior administration officials.

The proposal follows a controversy over the handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is accused in the attempted Christmas Day bombing and who was read his constitutional rights 10 hours after his arrest. Republicans said the decision cost the Obama administration valuable intelligence.

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Update: U.S. reviewing terrorism suspects procedures: report -- Reuters

My Comment: It seems that we are positioning ourselves into more legal twists and turns that .... unfortunately .... will only add more layers of legal protocols and procedures when it comes to interrogating terrorism suspects.

Sighhh .... with each passing day I am developing a greater appreciation on why Guantanamo prison was chosen by the Bush Administration as the center for conducting these interrogations and cross-examinations .... these additional legal procedures and Miranda rights were never necessary.

High-Value Interrogation Group Is Finally Operational

President Obama Announcing The formation Of HIG in 2009.
Photo from The Washington Independent

Long-Awaited High-Value Interrogation Group -- HIG -- Finally Formed -- ABC News

Following the Jan. 20 disclosure that a special interrogation team for high-value terrorist suspects was not yet operational -- months after it was supposed to have been -- the Obama administration approved the charter to create the High-Value Interrogation Group, or HIG, an administration official tells ABC News.

The HIG charter was signed last week by National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones (ret.).

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My Comment: Another example that illustrates how dysfunctional American's anti-terrorism efforts have become. If this was not publicized, I would wager that this "crack" interrogation unit would still be an idea on some "to do" list in the Administration.

President Obama's 2009 announcement of such a special interrogation unit is here.

Terror Interrogations: Can The CIA And FBI Work Together Again?

From Time Magazine:

If President Obama greenlights a proposal to create an inter-agency team of interrogators to handle terrorist suspects, it will be — as Samuel Johnson said sardonically of second marriages — the triumph of hope over experience. The history of inter-agency cooperation on interrogation is both brief and bleak.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the CIA, lacking experience in interrogating jihadis, turned to experts from a military school where soldiers are trained to resist torture. These experts came up with a range of "coercive" interrogation techniques, including the now-infamous water-board. When these methods were employed at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the methods led to an angry confrontation over their legality between interrogators from the FBI and the CIA. Eventually, the FBI withdrew from the interrogations — an less than amiable divorce, so to speak.

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My Comment: Who would want to have such a job? With Congress preparing to have hearings on what had happened during the past 8 years on suspected terrorists in detention, and with Attorney General Holder preparing to make a decision to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate how interrogations were conducted .... you would have to be a fool to assume responsibility for this department.

You may have the approval of Congress and the President today .... but a different administration in the future may have a different opinion .... and hence start this entire proprietorial process again.

The question is not "Can the CIA and FBI work together again?" .... but do either of them want to even touch this with a 10 foot pole, and if ordered to by the President and Congress .... will their be any "enthusiasm" to take on the mission.

Special Interrogation Units To Be Established For Terrorists?

A detainee strolls inside the open-air yard at the Camp Four detention facility on the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba in May. The Obama administration is considering a plan to overhaul interrogation of 'high-value' detainees. Associated Press

Specialized Interrogation Unit May Be Created -- Washington Post

Personnel Chosen From Different Agencies Would Question High-Value Targets

A Justice Department-led task force reviewing interrogation policy is leaning toward the creation of a small, specialized unit drawing personnel from intelligence, military and law enforcement agencies to question without the use of coercion any future high-value terrorism suspects captured by the United States, according to administration officials.

President Obama ordered an interagency review of interrogation policy in January. The task force, led by a federal prosecutor steeped in national security issues, was charged with determining whether interrogation guidelines in the Army Field Manual are sufficient for other agencies, such as the CIA, that may capture and question suspects outside the United States.

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Update: U.S. Weighs Special Team of Terrorism Interrogators -- Wall Street Journal

My Comment: The administration is looking for a way to get intelligence information without using "enhanced interrogation" techniques, and to then be positioned to use this information to prosecute (in a legal setting) the terrorist and/or prisoner who gave this information.

Someone must be dreaming.

U.S. Weighs Special Team of Terrorism Interrogators

A detainee strolls inside the open-air yard at the Camp Four detention facility on the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba in May. The Obama administration is considering a plan to overhaul interrogation of 'high-value' detainees. Associated Press

From The Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is considering overhauling the way terror suspects are interrogated by creating a small team of professionals drawn from across the government, according to people familiar with a proposal that will be submitted to the White House.

The new unit, comprising members of spy services and law-enforcement agencies, would be used for so-called high-value detainees, they said. In a switch from Bush-era efforts, it wouldn't be run by the Central Intelligence Agency, though who might be in charge isn't specified.

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My Comment: The sentence that got my attention was the following:

.... devise a new set of interrogation methods, .... Those techniques could be drawn from sources ranging from scientific studies to the psychology behind television ads .....

Television ads?

Who are they kidding.

Banned Interrogation Techniques Worked -- Media Finally Reporting The Other Side Of The Story

The CIA's Questioning Worked -- The Washington Post

In releasing highly classified documents on the CIA interrogation program last week, President Obama declared that the techniques used to question captured terrorists "did not make us safer." This is patently false. The proof is in the memos Obama made public -- in sections that have gone virtually unreported in the media.

Consider the Justice Department memo of May 30, 2005. It notes that "the CIA believes 'the intelligence acquired from these interrogations has been a key reason why al Qaeda has failed to launch a spectacular attack in the West since 11 September 2001.' . . . In particular, the CIA believes that it would have been unable to obtain critical information from numerous detainees, including [Khalid Sheik Mohammed] and Abu Zubaydah, without these enhanced techniques." The memo continues: "Before the CIA used enhanced techniques . . . KSM resisted giving any answers to questions about future attacks, simply noting, 'Soon you will find out.' " Once the techniques were applied, "interrogations have led to specific, actionable intelligence, as well as a general increase in the amount of intelligence regarding al Qaeda and its affiliates."

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Banned Techniques Yielded ‘High Value Information,’ Memo Says -- New York Times

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s national intelligence director told colleagues in a private memo last week that the harsh interrogation techniques banned by the White House did produce significant information that helped the nation in its struggle with terrorists.

“High value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qa’ida organization that was attacking this country,” Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the intelligence director, wrote in a memo to his staff last Thursday.

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Intel Director: High-Value Info Obtained -- Seattle PI/AP

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's top intelligence official privately told employees last week that "high value information" was obtained in interrogations that included harsh techniques approved by former President George W. Bush.

"A deeper understanding of the al-Qaida network" resulted, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said in the memo, in which he added, "I like to think I would not have approved those methods in the past." The Associated Press obtained a copy.

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Obama and the CIA -- Wall Street Journal Opinion

President Obama on Monday paid his first formal visit to CIA headquarters, in order, as he put it, to "underscore the importance" of the agency and let its staff "know that you've got my full support." Assuming he means it, the President should immediately declassify all memos concerning what intelligence was gleaned, and what plots foiled, by the interrogations of high-level al Qaeda detainees in the wake of September 11.

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My Comment: Vice President Cheney is right .... release the rest of the memos.

Future U.S Intelligence Officers/Operations Will Now Be Constrained

Hayden: Intelligence Officers Will Be Constrained -- The Politico

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden warned Sunday morning that intelligence officers will be constrained operationally as a direct consequence of the White House’s decision to release Justice Department memos detailing interrogation techniques.

Hayden said that officers will now be forced to consider the perspectives of the ACLU, the “New York Times editorial board,” and future presidential candidates, when deciding whether or not to follow interrogation orders.

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My Comment: If I am to apply commonsense .... if I was working for the CIA and I was directly involved in counter insurgency or counter terrorism operations .... I will be very careful on what I am doing rather than being more focused on getting the bad guys.

Has Torture And Rough Interrogation Been Successful .... Two Opposite Points Of View

"Our common humanity should be self-evident" ... Camp Delta military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay US naval base. Photograph: Brennan Linsley/PA

Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots -- Washington Post

Waterboarding, Rough Interrogation of Abu Zubaida Produced False Leads, Officials Say

When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.

The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.

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The Post and Abu Zubaydah -- National Review

The Left’s assault on the CIA program continues with today’s front-page story about the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah: “Detainees Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots.” The story, like so many on this program, is rife with errors and misinformation.

For example, the Post states:

“Abu Zubaida quickly told U.S. interrogators of [Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed and of others he knew to be in al-Qaeda, and he revealed the plans of the low-level operatives who fled Afghanistan with him. Some were intent on returning to target American forces with bombs; others wanted to strike on American soil again, according to military documents and law enforcement sources.

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Investigating U.S. Intelligence Officials For Interrogation Abuses

Waterboarding during the Vietnam War (Image from Norman's Blog)

Bush Doctrine Stalls Holder Confirmation -- Washington Post

GOP Wants No More Investigations

Even as Senate Republicans seek assurances that new leaders at the Justice Department will not prosecute former government officials over national security abuses, one of the highest-profile investigations of the Bush era is grinding to a close.

A little more than a year ago, then-Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey handpicked a prosecutor to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes depicting harsh interrogation tactics used against two al-Qaeda suspects. The disclosure that the tapes, believed to portray the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, were destroyed in 2005 touched off an outcry from defense lawyers and civil liberties advocates who said the government should have produced the materials in lawsuits pending at the time.

Since then, the federal inquiry has proceeded mostly in the shadows. But prosecutor John H. Durham recently told a federal judge that he would wrap up interviews by the end of February -- a timetable complicated by the highly sensitive subject, the reluctance of current and former agency employees to cooperate and Durham's painstaking approach, according to court documents and three lawyers following the case.

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My Comment: On the one hand, one can argue that this is a witch hunt that targets those who were authorized to protect us after 9/11. On the other hand, if rules and guidelines (and orders) were not obeyed, accountability must then be exercised.

But from my understanding, members of Congress were always notified of what was happening. If this is the case, and no information was withheld from Congress, this investigation is then dead. But if evidence reveals that information was deliberately destroyed, accountability and punishment must be the result. This investigation has been going on for a long time now .... it is time to put up .... or shut up.

Sources: Obama Ready To End Harsh Interrogations

President-elect Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Vice President-elect Senator Joe Biden at the presidential transition office in Washington January 14, 2009. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

From Yahoo News/AP:

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of waterboarding and harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. officials familiar with drafts of the plans.

The proposal Obama is considering would require all CIA interrogators to follow conduct outlined in the U.S. Army Field Manual, the officials said. The plans would also have the effect of shutting down secret "black site" prisons around the world where the CIA has questioned terror suspects — with all future interrogations taking place inside American military facilities.

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My Comment: Water boarding and/or torture has only been applied to three suspects in U.S. prisons .... and all three gave information that was valuable to the intelligence community. What happens on "black sites" is unknown.

So .... will this change anything right now .... hmmmm .... nope.

Like his soon to be announced decree to close Guantanamo .... it will be a big announcement .... but Guantanamo will still be open and detainees will still be there.