A Silver Lining in HIG

In that executive order, Obama also created the Special Task Force on Interrogations and Transfer Policies to evaluate US policies on interrogating and transferring detainees. Specifically, it's mission was to analyze whether use of the U.S. Army Field Manual by departments and agencies outside the Army would adequately protect US security, and evaluate US practices on transferring detainees to ensure that those policies don't violate US law or international obligations by handing detainees over to countries where they will face torture.

For interrogations in general, the task force concluded that the Army Field Manual is good enough. Going forward, it is to be used as the guide to how interrogations are conducted by other military and intelligence agencies and departments (this will include the C.I.A.).

As explained by a Dept. of Justice press release, for interrogations of high value detainees, the task force recommends that a High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) be created. This group will be combine expertise from the intelligence community (i.e., C.I.A.), the Department of Defense (i.e., the military), and law enforcement (i.e., the FBI, Department of Justice, etc.). It will coordinate, in advance, teams of experienced interrogators, analysts, subject matter experts and linguists to be deployed when the US has an opportunity to interrogate high value detainees. The goal of these interrogations will be prevention of future attacks. However, improved procedures and the involvement of law enforcement in the HIG are supposed to allow such interrogations to better aid criminal prosecutions as well.

ABC News confirms that President Obama signed an executive order implementing the task force's recommendations.

The task force also studied U.S. rendition practices, by which detainees have been rendered to foreign countries where they face torture. In short, renditions will continue, but with requests for monitoring the treatment of detainees by countries whose assurance against torture the US accepts. There may still be hope that we torture the bastards in to talking! Hmn...........Obama has one program that might still work! LOL!