interrogation – Page 2 – 4VF News

‘Enhanced interrogations’ don’t work, ex-FBI agent tells panel

The contentious debate over so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" took center stage on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as a former FBI agent involved in the questioning of terror suspects testified that such techniques — including waterboarding — are ineffective. Ali Soufan, an FBI special agent from 1997 to 2005, told members of a key Senate Judiciary subcommittee that such “techniques, from an operational perspective, are ineffective, slow and unreliable, and harmful to our efforts to defeat al Qaeda.” His remarks followed heated exchanges between committee members with sharply differing views on both the value of the techniques and the purpose of the hearing itself

CIA says Pelosi knew about waterboarding; she says no

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is disputing a CIA account sent to Congress that raises questions about her insistence she was never told explicitly that waterboarding had been used on terrorist suspects. The CIA-prepared memo, provided to CNN by Republican sources, lists 40 briefings for members of Congress from September 2002 to March 2009. The first briefing on the list — on September 4, 2002 — was for then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss and Pelosi, then the ranking Democrat on the committee

White House could release more memos on treatment of detainees

As President Obama approaches day 100 of his administration, some in Washington caution that the torture tug-of-war could be a costly distraction. Earlier this month, the Obama administration released four Bush-era memos detailing “enhanced interrogations” of suspected al Qaeda members. Now, the White House is reviewing former Vice President Dick Cheney’s request to make more memos public

Abu Ghraib head finds vindication in newly released memos

She said she was a scapegoat. She said she was just following orders. She said she was demoted unfairly.

Obama’s Growing Dilemma on Torture Prosecution

Less than a day after President Barack Obama told CIA employees in person that he didn’t support prosecuting them for the harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects, he left open the possibility that those who drafted the legal opinions justifying such questionable techniques could end up facing charges. The surprising statement marked just the latest step in Obama’s evolving view of the Bush Administration’s handling of terrorism cases, and it underscored the fine line he is navigating in his stated commitments to uphold the rule of law and at the same time move beyond the divisive Bush years

Report: Bush-era officials authorized detainee abuse

Senior Bush administration officials authorized aggressive interrogation techniques — including forced nudity and waterboarding — on suspected terrorists, despite concerns from military psychologists and attorneys, according to a Senate report released Tuesday. “The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees,” said the report, which reveals new details about prisoner treatment at U.S.

Ex-CIA chief: Obama risks national security

A former head of the CIA slammed President Obama on Sunday for releasing four Bush-era memos, saying the new president has compromised national security. Michael Hayden, who served as former President Bush’s last CIA director from 2006 to 2009, said releasing the memos outlining terror interrogation methods emboldened terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. “What we have described for our enemies in the midst of a war are the outer limits that any American would ever go to in terms of interrogating an al Qaeda terrorist