The men and women whose job it is to extract information from captured al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists do not shock easily. But several say they can’t believe their ears when they hear TV pundits, talk show hosts and even average Americans suggest that they should use torture to pry secrets from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, an al-Qaeda leader caught in Pakistan on Saturday. For moral, legal and practical reasons, torture is wrong, government interrogation specialists say. A tortured captive is ”not only going to tell you he’s al-Qaeda, he’s going to tell you he was the other guy on the grassy knoll” in Dallas when John F. Kennedy was killed, says one intelligence source. ”When you start using torture, it redefines who you are.” The questioning of Mohammed, al-Qaeda’s operations officer and the biggest catch yet in the war on terrorism, will probably be a prolonged process carried out in secret with no guarantee of results, senior intelligence officials say. Authorities say he may know details of al-Qaeda’s plans for future attacks, as well as the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.