FBI questioned military's results from Guantanamo interrogations

Associated Press | March 22 2005

WASHINGTON - U.S. law enforcement agents at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison for terrorism suspects concluded that the military's aggressive questioning yielded information that was "suspect at best," according to newly released portions of an FBI document.

That conclusion is contained in an internal FBI e-mail message, dated May 10, 2004, that also said the FBI had made it known to Pentagon officials in 2002 that the FBI "has been successful for many years obtaining confessions via non-confrontational interviewing techniques."

The document was released Monday by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. Portions that had previously been blacked out were released to Levin after he and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., asked the Justice Department to reconsider.

Large portions of the document remain blacked out, even in the newly released version.

Among the newly released passages was the statement that law enforcement agencies at Guantanamo Bay "were of the opinion (that) results obtained from these interrogations were suspect at best."

This memo did not describe the interrogation techniques and did not say which results were considered suspect.

It added that the Justice Department had made its concerns known to Pentagon officials, who sometimes were at odds with the FBI over acceptable methods of interrogation at Guantanamo Bay, particularly in late 2002. At that time, military officials sought permission to use interrogation techniques that were harsher than allowed under standard military practice.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved use of some harsher techniques in December 2002 but rescinded the authority in January 2003.