Tough Interrogation Tactics Were Opposed

Pentagon Task Force Was Told Not to Use Techniques Approved in 2002, Records Show

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 13, 2006; Page A16

Members of a Defense Department investigative task force were told not to participate in aggressive interrogation techniques approved for use at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002 because officers and lawyers believed the tactics violated policy and would not elicit information, according to documents released by the Pentagon.

The aggressive techniques, approved by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in late 2002, led to at least one high-value detainee being placed in women's underwear, led around by a dog leash and stripped in front of female interrogators. Similar tactics later emerged in Iraq and were highlighted in photographs of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison.