Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

subject-matter experts observe the interrogation, they can typically provide input
only after the interrogation ends, unless they interrupt the process to confer with
the interrogator. Off-the-shelf communications systems make it possible for an
interrogator to obtain unprecedented real-time information from members of
the support team without physically leaving the interrogation room. Behavioral,
technical, cultural, and linguistic data and clarifications — provided in a manner
and at a pace tailored to the unique information needs and individual processing
capabilities of the interrogator — could significantly enhance the interrogator’s
ability to systematically explore a source’s full scope of knowledgeability while
reducing the potential for disrupting a productive line of inquiry that even a short
break might cause.
Other promising areas of technical support for educing information are facial
recognition software (a potentially powerful screening tool) and video recordings
that can be analyzed for microexpressions (psychophysical cues that may occur
so rapidly that they are routinely missed by casual observation). 655 Blood tests
that precisely identify the geographic origins of the food recently consumed by
a source could help to corroborate or disprove a source’s statements regarding
recent travel or claimed whereabouts.
Unlocking the considerable potential of EI operations in the context of future
conflicts requires a thoughtful reassessment of the role science and technology will
play in this effort. A reasonable first step would be to form a team of specialists
drawn from the fields of interrogation operations, scientific and technical
intelligence analysis, HUMINT technical support teams, and communications to
identify a judicious way ahead.
Interpersonal/Intrapersonal Barriers 656
Know how to analyze a man. The alertness of the examiner
is matched against the reserve of the examined. But great
judgment is called for, to take the measure of another. It is far
more important to know the composition, and the properties of
men, than those of herbs and stones. This is the most delicate
of the occupations in life: for the metals are known by their
ring, and men by what they speak; words show forth the mind
of man; yet more, his works. To this end the greatest caution is
necessary, the clearest observation, the subtlest understanding,
and the most critical judgment. 657
655
See, for example, Paul Ekman, Telling Lies (New York: W.W. Norton and Co.: 1992).
656
The interpersonal/intrapersonal barrier to success suggests obvious areas of further exploration
from a behavioral science perspective; however, these will be addressed here only peripherally. A more
in-depth examination of those factors—with recommendations for specific areas of inquiry—will be
left to the cadre of credentialed behavioral scientists involved in this EI study. Instead, the author,
drawing upon his professional, operational, and academic background, limits his comments to the
equally vital areas of strategy and tradecraft.
657
Balthasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom: A Collection of Aphorisms (Boston, MA:
Shambala Publications, 1993), 250.
250