Hot Document in June

Interrogation: World War II, Vietnam, and Iraq

This book from the National Defense Intelligence College takes both an historical and policy-oriented view of prisoner of war interrogations in three wars. The World War II section examines the Army’s use of Japanese Americans – Nisei – as interrogators in the Pacific region. This part also analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Army and Navy Japanese language training provided during the war.

The Vietnam section focuses on profiles of the most able interrogators in World War II and the war in Vietnam. The authors see excellent linguistic ability, a deep understanding of the captives’ culture, and a perception that torture is useless in soliciting information as key for successful interrogation of prisoners.

The final section, on Iraq, focuses on policy issues – specifically, whether Army doctrine should permit Special Operations personnel to interrogate prisoners. As in previous sections, personal examples and real-world examples constitute the most exciting and compelling part of the read.

You can find the full text of the book here.