Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

an enemy prisoner of war (EPW) of potential major intelligence interest to be
progressively screened for knowledgeability, expertise, and access at the scene of
capture, at subsequent points of detention, upon embarkation from the European
Theater, and upon disembarkation in the United States. Only those prisoners who
had been assessed as being of the highest value were ultimately interrogated at
the Fort Hunt Joint Interrogation Center. Ahead of its time in managerial acumen,
MIS-Y effectively used the “80/20” principle to better focus its considerable
resources on that small segment of the EPW population able to meet the most
pressing intelligence information requirements of the war effort.
The later stages of the screening process were informed by guidelines and
methods taught by MIS-Y personnel. The last stage almost always included direct
examination by MIS-Y interrogators before final determination of the EPW’s
status. In this regard, it is important to note that the MIS-Y personnel involved in
the screening process were experienced interrogators. In contrast, the KUBARK
manual recommends that “screening should be conducted by interviewers, not
interrogators.” 50
Chess in the Real World
No two interrogations are the same. Every interrogation is
shaped definitively by the personality of the source — and
of the interrogator, because interrogation is an intensely
interpersonal process. The whole purpose of screening and a
major purpose of the first stage of interrogation are to probe
the strengths and weaknesses of the subject. Only when these
have been established and understood does it become possible
to plan realistically. 51
Building upon the fundamental definition of interrogation noted previously,
the KUBARK manual provides a conceptual perspective on interrogation — that
of an “intensely interpersonal process” — that offers invaluable clues in the
search for relevant supporting research and methodologies. Social scientists have
rigorously studied other intensely interpersonal processes — counseling and
therapy, negotiation, sales, conflict mediation, and even formal debate, to name
but a few. Within the myriad studies investigating the dynamics involved in these
activities, one is likely to uncover concepts with direct application to interrogation
and/or useful protocols for designing studies on the interrogation process.
The KUBARK manual also challenges interrogators to view each source as
unique, therefore requiring judicious planning and a flexible approach tailored to
that individual’s specific strengths and weaknesses. This is especially important
for those interrogators who run default programs comprising a limited array
of approaches that have worked well in the past on a dramatically different
50
KUBARK, 30.
51
KUBARK, 38.
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