Good vs Evil

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don't be a Menshevik: Clip all extraneous text before replying to a message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The causulty of the war between "good" and "evil" appears to be "good".

Henry C.K. Liu

The Times MONDAY OCTOBER 22 2001

FBI considers torture as suspects stay silent

FROM DAMIAN WHITWORTH IN WASHINGTON

AMERICAN investigators are considering resorting to harsher
interrogation techniques, including torture, after facing a wall of
silence from jailed suspected members of Osama bin Laden¡¦s al-Qaeda
network, according to a report yesterday.

More than 150 people who were picked up after September 11 remain in
custody, with four men the    focus of particularly intense scrutiny.
But investigators have found the usual methods have failed to persuade
any of them to talk.

Options being weighed include ¡§truth¡¨ drugs, pressure tactics and
extraditing the suspects to countries whose security services are more
used to employing a heavy-handed approach during interrogations.

"We're into this thing for 35 days and nobody is talking. Frustration
has begun to appear," a senior FBI
official told The Washington Post.

Under US law, evidence extracted using physical pressure or torture is
inadmissible in court and interrogators could also face criminal charges
for employing such methods. However, investigators suggested that the
time might soon come when a truth serum, such as sodium pentothal, would
be deemed an acceptable tool for interrogators.

The public pressure for results in the war on terrorism might also
persuade the FBI to encourage the countries of suspects to seek their
extradition, in the knowledge that they could be given a much rougher
reception in jails back home.

One of the four key suspects is Zacarias Moussaoui, a  French Moroccan,
suspected of being a twentieth
hijacker who failed to make it on board the plane that crashed in
Pennsylvania. Moussaoui was detained after he acted suspiciously at a
Minnesota flying school, requesting lessons in how to steer a plane but
not how  to take off or land. Both Morocco and France are regarded as
having harsher interrogation methods than the United States.

The investigators have been disappointed that the usual incentives to
break suspects, such as promises of
shorter sentences, money, jobs and new lives in the witness protection
programme, have failed to break the silence.

"We are known for humanitarian treatment, so basically we are stuck.
Usually there is some incentive, some angle to play, what you can do for
them. But it could get to that spot where we could go to pressure . . .
where we don't have a choice, and we are probably getting there," an FBI
agent involved in the    investigation told the paper.

The other key suspects being held in New York are Mohammed Jaweed Azmath
and Ayub Ali Khan, Indians who were caught the day after the attacks
travelling with false passports, craft knives such as    those used in
the hijackings and hair dye. Nabil Almarabh, a Boston taxi driver
alleged to have links to  al-Qaeda, is also being held. Some legal
experts believe that the US Supreme Court, which has a conservative
tilt, might be prepared to support curtailing the civil liberties of
prisoners in terrorism cases.

However, a warning that torture should be avoided came from Robert
Blitzer, a former head of the FBI's
counter-terrorism section. He said that the practice "goes against every
grain in my body. Chances are you are going to get the wrong person and
risk damage or killing them."

In all, about 800 people have been rounded up since the attacks, most of
whom are expected to be found to be innocent. Investigators believe
there could be hundreds of people linked to al-Qaeda living in the US,
and the Bush Administration has issued a warning that more attacks are
probably being planned.

Newsweek magazine reports today that Mohammed Atta, the suspected
ringleader who died in the first
plane to hit the World Trade Centre, had been looking into hitting an
aircraft carrier. Investigators retracing his movements found that he
visited the huge US Navy base at Norfolk, Virginia, in February and
April this year.

Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.