Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

Nevertheless, we know anecdotally that it is not impossible to convince
another person to change at least a little, even from a negative strategy, usually
by causing that person to doubt much of what he thought he knew (in this case
before capture). This would make it all the more important for the United States
to use trained educers who could plan (with their team) strategies that would be
as effective as possible in changing some of the source’s views about offering
information. Part of this plan might involve offering intangibles to try to make
things better and at least not make them worse.
Sources of Power in Negotiation Theory
Different theorists have compiled slightly different lists of “sources of power”
in negotiation, but they are all short lists. That is, there is only a finite number of
kinds of negotiation power. Some sources of power explored in this section are
associated with potential collaboration: building respect or at least credibility, using
charisma and moral authority effectively, and offering rewards. Some sources of
power are associated with competition: taking away alternative options from the
other person, using sanctions, and employing commitment power (persistence
in the negotiation until the source gives in). Some are associated with punitive
strategies: the use of force or putting someone in fear, extreme use of commitment
power, and attempts to deprive the other person of any alternative options.
Many questions about the ethics of negotiation relate to uses of power, and
people disagree profoundly about when and how various sources of power should
be used. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the ethical issues. However,
with respect to all controversial EI methods it would seem reasonable at least
to know if any of the controversial methods can be proven to be more effective,
compared with other methods, in eliciting accurate and useful information. Any
known use of any sources of power in EI, especially in cross-cultural EI, might
therefore be studied for short- and long-term effectiveness.
Legitimate Authority
Legitimate or positional authority recognized by the other person is a
commonly acknowledged form of power. However, in EI, a detainee might
not recognize his captor as a legitimate authority for the purposes of sharing
information or for any other purpose. He might see a relevant religious leader as
a source of legitimate authority, which may hurt the interests of the United States
if the leader speaks against the United States, or might help if a relevant religious
leader were to condemn terrorism. A detainee might also recognize another highly
placed detainee as a legitimate authority, which may hurt the interests of the United
States, or might conceivably be used to help the process of EI if that highly placed
source became willing to cooperate. In order to sow doubt in the mind of a source
about previous beliefs it might be helpful to consider any possible “legitimate
authority” that might help to persuade him to share information.
An attempt to presume “legitimate authority” can be used against the interests
of the United States. For example, if sources believe they are being held “unjustly”
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