Former FBI Agent: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques 'Ineffective, Harmful'

May 13, 2009— -- Appearing behind a screen to protect his identity, a former FBI supervisory agent told Congress today that the so-called CIA enhanced interrogation techniques authorized for use against al Qaeda by the Bush administration were in fact "slow, ineffective, unreliable and harmful."

The testimony by Ali Soufan came during the first congressional hearings since the release of Bush administration memos authorizing the use of techniques such as the water board, sleep deprivation, wall standing and the facial hold.

Soufan, who was present for the early interrogations of al Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah, said that the enhanced techniques that the CIA used against some of the highest valued detainees in the war on terror were "amateurish" and that their use "plays into enemy hands", "ignores the endgame" and "diminishes the moral high ground."

Soufan told congressmen that within the first hour of his interrogation of Zubaydah, he had obtained "actionable intelligence," including information regarding Khalid Sheik Mohammad the so-called mastermind of 9/11. But Soufan said that when the CIA took over, they used techniques he considered "border line torture" and that Zubaydah stopped giving useful information. The FBI objected to the harsh techniques and eventually withdrew from the interrogations.

Soufan's testimony -- that his interrogations were providing good intelligence -- is in direct conflict with information provided by the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel, which wrote in a memo in August 2002 that the CIA had said that Zubaydah had "additional information that he refuses to divulge."

The memo concluded that since the CIA was worried about a level of "chatter" equal to that which preceded the Sept. 11 attacks, it was time to move to an "increased pressure phase."

But Soufan said he believes the next phase did not result in better intelligence and that Zubaydah was able to outsmart his interrogators.

"Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times," said Soufan, "an indication that Zubaydah had already called [his interrogator's] bluff."

Soufan said he strongly believed that it was a "mistake" to use the enhanced interrogation techniques and suggested that more traditional methods would yield more useful information.