Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

in Korea and Vietnam. Important lessons learned about the usefulness of noncoercive,
“strategic interrogation” techniques were forgotten. Today, Kleinman
maintains, “a considerable portion of ‘what we know’ about interrogation–
including approach methodology, the detection of deception, and reading
body language – is…largely unsubstantiated….adulterated by the principles of
coercive interrogation drawn from studies of Communist methodologies.” As a
result, “evidence of the employment of coercive methods by U.S. interrogators
has appeared with alarming frequency.”
The challenge is to make constructive use of both the positive and negative
aspects of our historical and practical legacy and to supplement it with meticulous
analysis of educing information data using a variety of scientific disciplines and
conceptual frameworks. As Dr. Lehner explains, “Information gleaned from field
experience constitutes a critical source of knowledge, and without question many
of the lessons learned from such experiences are valid. But, equally without
question, many are invalid. Which is which Only objective, scientific research
can help to distinguish between them.” Pursuing and discovering “truth” is the
central message of Educing Information: Interrogation: Science and Art. It is
obvious from the hugely damaging, worldwide impact of the images from Abu
Ghraib, and widespread allegations about abuses elsewhere, that U.S. educing
information practices are ripe for review. Failure to act now risks not just the
lives of prisoners and detainees, the success of coalition operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan and the war on terror, or even our country’s broader national security
interests. Hanging in the balance is our very identity as a nation – the heart and
soul of the United States and the values of life, liberty, and justice that American
service members are daily fighting and dying to preserve. Clearly, we must
persevere in this endeavor to find the truth.
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