Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

thoughtful, systematic approach. In the case of the latter, the interrogator might
be well served in designing an effective approach regime by asking himself/
herself, as recommended in the KUBARK manual, “‘How can I make him want
to tell me what he knows’ 38 rather than ‘How can I trap him into disclosing
what he knows’” 39 Operational accord seeks to effectively, albeit subtly, gain
the source’s cooperation and maintain that productive relationship for as long as
possible without betraying indicators of manipulation or exploitation on the part
of the interrogator.
One constructive paradigm for interrogation, yet one that is rarely considered,
views it in terms of a recruitment (or even, perhaps, a seduction). Returning to the
basic definition of interrogation noted at the beginning of this paper, it consists
of no more than obtaining needed information through responses to questions.
To achieve that objective, one can “pull” (i.e., elicit compliance) or “push” (i.e.,
coerce capitulation). While the former is likely to obtain information that can
often exceed the interrogator’s expressed scope of interest — as the source often
possesses both greater depth and breadth of knowledgeability than the interrogator
might assume — the latter will, in the best of circumstances, only obtain
information responding to questions directly asked. Even then the information
will often be limited to the minimum necessary to satisfy the interrogator.
Effectively establishing an operational accord with a source — especially in a
cross-cultural setting — must become a major component of interrogator training
and included in that problem set of necessary yet diffi cult to defi ne, measure and
train skills needed by all HUMINT operators. A review of studies in interpersonal
conflict resolution and relationship-building under competitive circumstances
(e.g., sales, counseling, negotiation, etc.) can provide a meaningful starting point
from which to launch original research for specific application in the interrogation
context.
Reliability of Casual Observation
Great attention has been given to the degree to which persons are
able to make judgments from casual observations regarding the
personality characteristics of another…the level of reliability
in judgments is so low that research encounters difficulties,
when it seeks to determine who makes better judgments…the
interrogator is likely to overestimate his ability to judge others
than to underestimate it, especially if he has had little or no
training in modern psychology. 40
The reliability of casual observations made by interrogators has too often gone
unchallenged. Unfortunately, the fact that someone is a “trained” interrogator is
38
The term “want” in this context refers to creating conditions that make cooperation appear to be
an attractive, even self-serving alternative for the source rather than a characterization of the source’s
efforts to escape physical or psychological force.
39
KUBARK, 12.
40
KUBARK, 12–13.
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