The Use of Interrogation and Torture in Counterterrorism

Open to the Public

The topic will be the use of interrogation and torture in counterterrorism, including such questions as: Does torture work?

Date: Fri, May 11, 2007 Time: 01:00pm - 02:30pm Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

The topic will be the use of interrogation and torture in counterterrorism, including such questions as: Does torture work? What about harsh interrogation methods that might be called “torture lite”? And, what can we learn from past experience and academic research on interrogation?

Discussion group participants are encouraged to review ahead of time the report of the Intelligence Science Board, Educing Information: Interrogation, Science and Art, Phase 1 Report, December 2006. The report is lengthy, but the chapter by Dr. Randy Borum, “Approaching Truth: Behavioral Science Lessons on Educing Information from Human Sources” (pp. 17–37) may be especially worthwhile. The study is available at: http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/educing.pdf.

Other readings that may be of interest are:

Mark Bowden, “The Dark Art of Interrogation,” The Atlantic Monthly, October 2003.

Charles Krauthammer, “The Truth About Torture,” The Weekly Standard, December 5, 2005.

Darius Rejali, “Does Torture Work?” Salon, June 21 2004.

In addition, the web site of the PBS Frontline broadcast, “The Torture Question,” provides a number of useful interviews and links: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/.

Please contact Erica Chenoweth or Erik Dahl with any questions or if you need assistance locating any of the readings. We hope to see you at the meeting.