Editing KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Review: Observations of an Interrogator (section)

== Pressures and the Non-Coercive Interrogation Model==

The term non-coercive is used...to denote methods of interrogation that are not based upon the coercion of an unwilling subject through the employment of superior force originating outside himself. However, the non-coercive interrogation is not conducted without pressure. On the contrary, the goal is to generate maximum pressure, or at least as much as is needed to induce compliance. The difference is that the pressure is

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generated inside the interrogatee. His resistance sapped, his urge to yield is fortified, until in the end he defeats himself.65
The concept of “pressure” is an elusive one to capture in a manner that wins universal acceptance. For this reason, the term itself has played a significant, if misunderstood role with respect to allegations of prisoner mistreatment. This can be illustrated in the following recurring scenario:

A senior commander, whose forces have engaged a challenging insurgent adversary, rightfully seeks to gain every available advantage, including that possible through timely and tailored intelligence gathered from recently captured detainees. Interrogators, diligently employing the U.S. Army tactical interrogation model—one designed for a more conventional military paradigm—encounter difficulties in obtaining the desired intelligence information from suspected terrorists, captured insurgents, and other high-value detainees. In this highly charged environment, commanders direct interrogators to “increase the pressure” on the prisoners without additional guidance as to how that order might be acted upon. Operating without advanced training in the needed interrogation tradecraft and lacking guidance from doctrine tailored to the circumstances, some interrogators (the majority of whom are young and relatively inexperienced) interpret the order to “increase the pressure” as meaning anything from extending the length of interrogations to pushing (and at times exceeding) the envelope of accepted methods. In a small number of cases, it is interpreted as meaning increased physicality.

In the context of an interrogation, myriad environmental factors may generate pressure (i.e., stress) within an individual. At the same time, it is important — and the [[KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation|KUBARK manual]] suggests — not to overlook the influence of the source’s self-induced pressures. For the purposes of this paper, self-induced pressures will be defined as those resulting from an individual’s interpretation of, and chosen response to, events, both real and imagined. Understanding this dynamic, the challenge for the interrogator is to skillfully (and carefully) manage the level of pressure in a manner that moves the interrogation toward its established objectives.

Nonetheless, pressure is an exceedingly difficult quality to measure accurately, especially on the exclusive basis of external observation. Additional degrees of difficulty are introduced by the cultural and linguistic barriers that are almost always present in an interrogation setting, individual responses to pressure, current levels of physical and emotional health, and time held in detention. Given this complex matrix, interrogators find themselves walking a very fine line,

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seeking to induce sufficient pressure to obtain the desired level of cooperation and compliance, but not so much pressure as to violate international convention or cause a sudden and/or severe emotional or psychological breakdown on the part of the source.
If the application and management of pressure are inherent components of the interrogation process, interrogators require a far more sophisticated understanding of the dynamics involved and more useful methods for accurately identifying and measuring that pressure. Cross-cultural studies are of great interest in this regard as an interrogator must, at the very least, appreciate the culturally based pressures a given source will likely encounter as he or she decides whether to cooperate or resist.