Senate to Probe CIA Interrogation Methods

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Senate to Probe CIA Interrogation Methods
February 27, 2009
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Anecdotes, news reports and even the many times "24" agent Jack Bauer has saved the country on TV aren't enough to convince the Senate Intelligence Committee that the CIA's harsh interrogation methods actually work.

Lawmakers are investigating the interrogation program begun during the Bush administration in an attempt to inject fact into the public debate over those methods, Senate officials said Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of the committee's discussions.

Advocates of harsh interrogations say some prisoners are trained to resist standard techniques and only more coercive methods will break their will. That's the popular depiction of harsh interrogation in movies like "Taken" and the Fox TV series "24," in which a government agent often tortures a suspect into giving up valuable information.

However, critics of coercive interrogations say they do not work because those subjected to them will say whatever they think the interrogator wants to hear to make the interrogation stop. Other approaches are more effective, they maintain.

President Barack Obama halted the CIA's interrogation program in January. The spy agency is now prohibited from employing methods not approved for use by the U.S. military while the program undergoes a White House review to determine whether additional interrogation methods may be necessary.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/February-2009/senate-to-probe-cia-interrogation-methods.html?col=1186032310810