Obama Replaces CIA With Special Interrogators

Barack Obama has ordered the creation of an elite squad that will take over terror interrogations from the CIA, senior officials tell the Washington Post. Dubbed the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG, the unit will be housed with the FBI, but overseen by the White House through the National Security Council. Its director will likely come from the FBI, but the deputy could come from the CIA.

The group was one of the key recommendations to come out of the task force the president created to review Bush’s interrogation and detention policies. The HIG will, as per the group’s recommendations, stick to the guidelines in the Army Field Manual. But the unit will also attempt to develop new techniques, and test old ones to see if they work, as part of a “scientific research program for interrogation.” (More interrogation stories.)