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November 21, 2008 6:08:44 CST

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Gitmo 'Torture' Modeled on Chinese Grilling of US POWs

Posted Jul 2, 08 3:37 CDT in World,  US 

(Newser) – Guantanamo Bay interrogators learned their techniques from Chinese Communists who used them on American POWs in the Korean War, the New York Times reports. A 1957 Air Force chart labeled Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance detailed methods like prolonged standing and exposure to cold, and was used as a training aid by military trainers. The chart was copied verbatim for use at Guantanamo.

When the chart was first compiled, officials described the techniques as brainwashing and torture. Ironically, the techniques were used by the Chinese to force often false confessions from Americans. "People say we need intelligence, and we do," said Carl Levin, chair of the Senate committee probing Guantanamo interrogations. "But we don’t need false intelligence.”

Source New York Times

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A foot shackle is bolted to a floor covered by a decorative carpet inside an interrogation room on a cell block in Camp 5 maximum security detention facility, at Guantanamo Bay.   (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Shackles are chained to the floor inside an interrogation room on a cell block in Camp 5 maximum security detention facility, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Ted Hexter, dressed as a prisoner, listens to speakers at a rally protesting the American Psychological Association participating in military interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in San Francisco.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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Guantanamo Bay • Guantanamo prisoners • interrogation techniques • interrogation • Carl Levin • Central Intelligence Agency • harsh interrogation • Senate Armed Services Committee


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