“CIA EITs program was not torture. If it was, I would be in jail. I am just the guy who was asked to do something for his country.”

Dr. James Mitchell

In Enhanced Interrogation, Mitchell now offers a first-person account of the EIT program, providing a contribution to our historical understanding of one of the most controversial elements of America’s ongoing war on terror.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

Readers will follow him inside the secretive “black sites” and cells of terrorists and terror suspects where he personally applied enhanced interrogation techniques.

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Mitchell Interview about CIA EITs

In this interview, Mitchell “justifies” the 81 million US$ he earned for his work with the CIA.

“Enhanced Interrogation: Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying To Destroy America”

Mitchell personally questioned thirteen of the most senior high-value detainees in U.S. custody, including Abu Zubaydah; Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the amir or “commander” of the USS Cole bombing; and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terror attacks–obtaining information that he maintains remains essential to winning the war against al-Qa’ida and informing our strategy to defeat ISIS and all of radical Islam.

From the interrogation program’s earliest moments to its darkest hours, Mitchell also lifts the curtain on its immediate effects, the controversy surrounding its methods, and its downfall. He shares his view that EIT, when applied correctly, were useful in drawing detainees to cooperate, and that, when applied incorrectly, they were counter-productive.

Documentary — VICE

The Senate Intelligence Committee has released a blistering, 500-page report on the CIA’s controversial detention and interrogation program, a document that committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said represents the most significant oversight effort in the history of the US Senate.

The $40 million, five-year study concluded that CIA officials exaggerated the value of the intelligence they gleaned from dozens of “high-value detainees” held at black site prisons, where they were subjected to so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as sleep deprivation and waterboarding.

The committee reviewed more than 6 million pages of top-secret CIA documents and found that the architect of the interrogation program was a retired Air Force psychologist named James Mitchell, an agency contractor who — according to news reports — personally waterboarded alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The Senate report does not identify Mitchell by name.

REFERENCES

Justifying Torture: CIA Psychologist’s Book Defends His Role

James Mitchell: ‘I’m just a guy who got asked to do something for his country’ — TheGuardian

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Enhanced Interrogation: CIA Psychologist’s Book Defends The Program