Nerve Endings Firing Away

As soon as the news that the Indian security forces had captured one of the terrorists (Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman among other aliases) in the Mumbai attacks alive trickled out, there were umpteen suggestions on how best to extract information from him. None of which included treating him humanely and why should we? Especially when we had him at a time his colleagues were still killing Indian citizens and we had no clue how many else like him were out there. The favorite mode of interrogation of the Indian police is as they say, tire mein daal ke dhooneka (hang him from a suspended tire and bash him like a piñata) until he blurts everything out. Without prejudging the Indian forces mode of interrogation, the news that followed had him singing like a canary giving us details of his origin, training, and of course, Pakistan’s involvement.

But what was the general opinion among the populace on future interrogations? Based on my conversation at the katta or naaka (neighborhood hangout spots) while in India, most prefer the piñata treatment. I’ve been guilty of having that opinion not too long ago too. But do such methods work? What prevents the terrorist from giving us wrong information or even the information that he perceives we want to hear just to make the beating stop? How is that useful to our national security interests and more importantly global image considering such torture tactics are considered inhumane even for terrorists? If you argue that such despicable people should be treated in a way they deserve then frankly we lose all moral standing and there exists no difference between them and us only seeking to reinforce the recruitment tactics their higher-ups use to lure misguided youth. And when we end up trying the captured terrorist in a court of law (because that’s what civilized nations do) then there is the danger of excluding any evidence obtained from those torture sessions.

Why do you think George Bush is so reviled by his countrymen although he portends to keeping his countrymen safe ironically by sanctioning the very acts that his enemies are capable of. Nitin is absolutely right when he says, “America’s greatest mistake after 9/11 was Guantanamo Bay. India should not make the same mistake.” India should focus on following the letter (and spirit of) law and try the terrorist in the court with proper legal representation. That is the only way we send a strong message to people like him that regardless of their barbaric methods and outdated thinking, we are still a civilized nation.

On a related note, if you think we still need the information that can be had by the piñata treatment then check out Air Force officer and Guantánamo Bay interrogator Matthew Alexander’s (a pseudonym) book, How to Break a Terrorist. Coming from a man who did the information extraction for a living, his word is more valuable than my opinion:

“The quickest way to get most (but not all) captives talking is to be nice to them. But what does it mean to be “nice” to a subject under interrogation? … It means, ideally, getting to know the subject better than he knows himself and then manipulating him by role-playing, flattering, misleading, and nudging his or her perception of the truth slightly off center. The goal is to turn the subject around so that he begins to see strong logic and even wisdom in acting against his own comrades and cause.”

And there is that danger of having the wrong man because not every day will you catch a terrorist red-handed. Heck, it might be someone from your family or even you. Do you want your brains bashed in for some information that you don’t have?