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

=== Ivan Is a Dope ===
It may be useful to point out to a hostile [source] that the cover story was ill-contrived, that the other service botched the job, that it is typical of the other service to ignore the welfare of its agents. The interrogator may personalize this pitch by explaining that he has been impressed by the [source’s] courage and intelligence.84

This approach also leverages the psychological and emotional partition between aforementioned values outside the interrogation room and those inside the interrogation room. By using this approach effectively, the interrogator continues to separate the source from his or her external anchors. In this instance, that anchor is a belief in the parent service’s skill in managing cover to properly protect the source operationally. This has direct application to the interrogation of suspected terrorists, not only as it relates to cover support, but also to the threat briefings, operational planning, and equipment provided to the source by his or her sponsoring organization.

A key element of systematic interrogation is systematic innovation. Rather than assume that the approaches outlined in U.S. Army Field Manual 34-52 are the limit of their repertoire of tactics, interrogators should view those approaches as only the very beginning. The drafters of the [[KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation|KUBARK manual]] demonstrated the value to be found in the ability to adapt to new challenges, design innovative strategies, identify through practical experience what appears to consistently work well, and share these novel concepts with other interrogators. If a central clearinghouse for new interrogation tactics, techniques, and procedures existed
— a means of capturing and widely disseminating the experience and insights of operators in the field — it is quite probable that the art of interrogation would currently be taught and practiced in a significantly different and far more effective fashion.

82 KUBARK, 67.
83 The author refers to this approach as “The Exquisite Ruse,” and has used it with great effect in interrogation operations conducted during Operations JUST CAUSE, DESERT STORM, and IRAQI FREEDOM.

84 85