Military Intelligence - this week in history 6 September, 2012

August 30, 2012

Fort Huachuca, AZ. - Several events, peaking with the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, underscored the need for changes to Human Intelligence (HUMINT) policy.

The 2004 Department of the Army Inspector General (DAIG) Report on Detainee Operations identified deficiencies in policy and procedures regarding the handling and interrogation of detainees.

As a result, in February 2005, the DA G2 issued a memorandum with guidance on the selection and training of contract interrogators, and in November 2005, the Defense Department issued a document outlining guidance and directives to the military service for interrogator training and the conduct of interrogations. The US Army Intelligence Center (USAIC) began revising its HUMINT doctrinal manuals to capture these changes in policy and procedures for HUMINT operations.

The first draft of the manual, an update to FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation (1992), was completed in May 2005. Because the concept of HUMINT collection had changed substantially since the 1990s, the new manual was broader in scope and incorporated lessons learned throughout the Global War on Terrorism. However, the draft manual immediately met with opposition from Congress and the State Department on a number of sensitive issues. USAIC reworked the draft to address these issues, and after many months of effort and review, the HUMINT Collection Operations Field Manual (FM 2-22.3) was publicly released on 6 September 2006. The new version provided Geneva Convention protections for all detainees (including those considered unlawful combatants). Upon its publication, FM 2-22.3 applied to every DoD interrogator, to include DoD personnel, contractors, military commanders and their staffs. It also applied to other government agencies and foreign governments conducting approved interrogations in a DoD controlled facility.

According to Mr Cully Stimson, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, "First and foremost, the directive describes the core policies that this department believes are critical in ensuring that all detainees are treated humanely, and that the laws pertaining to detainee care and treatment are implemented. It incorporates the prohibitions against cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment of the Detainee Treatment Act, and articulates, for the first time in DoD history, a minimum standard for the care and treatment of all detainees."