Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

Decision-Making Cycles: The Importance of Agility and the Role of
Ambiguity
As noted previously, a fundamental strategy for dealing with ambiguity
rests on understanding how to employ ambiguity to one’s advantage rather than
viewing it as something to be rigidly avoided. In Certain to Win, Chet Richards
captures the true meaning of ambiguity in a manner that has direct application to
educing information from resistant sources:
Ambiguity is a terrible thing, much more effective as a strategy
than deception, with which it is often confused. Deception is
correctly described as a tactic: If you are deceived, you will be
surprised when you discover the truth, and it is possible that
you will be led to do some things, perhaps even fatal things, that
you would not have done if you had realized the truth earlier. It
can be an extremely effective tactic, even though your ability to
function as a thinking human being is not at risk. This is exactly
what you can attack and destroy using ambiguity. There is no
conflict, however, between ambiguity and deception, since the
first provides the environment for the second. If something vital,
such as life is at stake, losing track of a deadly threat in the fog
of ambiguity can quickly lead to confusion, panic, and terror,
which in turn will cause the decision-making of the less agile
party to break down. 675
Strategy, by definition, involves the effective marshalling of available
resources in a manner that will achieve a purposeful outcome. The employment
of strategy routinely involves the application and reapplication of resources (with
each subsequent application being at levels equal to, greater than, or less than
the original) in response to changes in the operating environment — be it the
battlefield, marketplace, or interrogation room. Ultimately this continuous loop
of action/reaction will end when a pre-determined end-state has been reached.
Boyd, the fighter pilot-turned master strategist, brilliantly captured the essence
of strategy as a:
mental tapestry of changing intentions for harmonizing and
focusing our efforts as a basis for realizing some aim or
purpose in an unfolding and often unforeseen world of many
bewildering events and many contending interests. 676
Current interrogation training falls painfully short in this respect. Instead of
the freeform methods necessary to meet the changing nature of the challenge (e.g.,
sources from different cultures, varying language requirements, rapidly evolving
intelligence requirements, shifting alliances and adversaries, etc.), training and
field experience too often encourages (and rewards) a rigid adherence to process.
Current and emerging EI requirements can be met only with an overarching
675
Richards, Certain to Win, 67.
676
Richards, 84.
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