Talk club

At the U.S. Army's interrogation school [in Fort Huachuca, Arizona] Staff Sgt. Giersdorf, a veteran intelligence-operative who speaks Arabic, Czech and Russian, is teaching new recruits to extract information from al Qaeda and other captive foes. The job, he tells his students, `is just a hair's-breadth

away from being an illegal specialty under the Geneva Convention.'. . . Soldiers study 30 techniques to make prisoners crack. One is the simple `incentive approach.' Around the world, `everyone smokes', Sgt. Giersdorf tells students. `If you've ever talked to a captured Arab who hasn't smoked for two hours, a pack of smokes can get you a long way.'. . .

The students get a day's training in the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which govern the treatment of prisoners during wartime, and are cautioned that violating the treaty could bring prosecution. That means there are some lines they can't cross-no truth serum, or physical or mental coercion, according to Army lawyers.

On the other hand, even the International Committee of the Red Cross, which monitors compliance with the treaty, says there's room for interpretation.... Thus, Sgt. Giersdorf tells students, `You can put a source in any position you want. You can chain his legs to the chair, you can handcuff his hands behind him', force him to stand at attention or have military police thrust him to the ground. `If [a prisoner] says it hurts, is it torture?' he asks.

'Yes', say several students.

`No, it's not', the sergeant corrects. America's allies, he says, go farther, placing prisoners into what he calls `stress positions' until they talk. Those aren't taught here, he is quick to add, but `if you work with the Brits or the Dutch or the Germans, they can show you all about it.'

-Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2002