“Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.”
January 2015
Interrogation in the 21st Century : Merging Science and Human Rights
New America | JANUARY 29, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
12:15 pm – 1:45 pm
New America
1899 L Street NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Ever since reports of abusive tactics surfaced in the early 2000s, the efficacy of interrogation methods used by the U.S. military and intelligence services has been an issue of contention. Over the past 15 years, the debate has focused largely on whether or not abusive tactics were necessary to elicit intelligence. The discussion has been largely among politicians, with little input from scientists who have relevant data, or from practitioners who can speak to the efficacy of ethical, science-based methods that treat detainees with respect. Until now.
New America is pleased to welcome Col. (ret.) Steven Kleinman, a career military intelligence officer with expertise in human intelligence and strategic interrogations; Mark Fallon, a national security consultant and former deputy assistant director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Christian Meissner, a professor at Iowa State University who has coordinated a five-year research program for the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group; and Melissa Russano, associate professor of criminal justice at Roger Williams University who has interviewed interrogators with experience of questioning high-value targets, for a discussion about the methods that are really used in these kinds of interrogations, and the value of the intelligence that they elicit.
Follow the discussion online using #TalkTactics and following @NatSecNAF.
Participants
Mark Fallon
Director, ClubFed LLC
@glynco
Col. (ret.) Steven Kleinman
Retired Officer, U.S. Air Force
@smkleinman
Dr. Christian Meissner
Professor of Psychology, Iowa State University
@cameissner
Dr. Melissa Russano
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Roger Williams University
Moderator:
Peter Bergen
Director, International Security Program, New America
@peterbergencnn
BYU Radio
In January 2015, BYU Radio graciously offered the opportunity to explore the history of how SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) tactics were developed to prepare U.S. military personnel to resist coercive interrogation as well as how those methods wrongly ended up shaping the CIA's program of "enhanced interrogation techniques" that were, in part, revealed in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report released in December 2014. The far-ranging 30-minute interview can be found here. (I'd like to offer a note of thanks to the BYU Radio correspondent, Julie Rose, for asking such probing questions and for generously allowing the time to provide comprehensive answers.)
December 2014
In December 2014, I was interviewed on various media outlets in response to the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, including:
CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley
NPR's Weekend Edition
Al Jazeera America's America Tonight
In addition, I was fortunate to have been featured in two videos produced by Human Rights First:
Interrogator Says You Deserve the Truth on Torture
I was honored to have been included in an article produced by Human Rights First, Nine Heroes Who Stood Up Against Torture
December 2013
In December 2013, I was invited to participate in the annual Human Rights First Summit. I appeared on a panel that explored the question, "Does torture help to protect National Security?"