# How Are They, ahem, "Questioning" Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 4, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884 "2003-03-04T00:20:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/1 "2003-03-04T00:20:31Z")
Just a wild guess, but I am assuming Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is not exactly bubbling with excitement at telling his life story, naming names and playing 20 questions.
How are we getting info from him, (other than going over notes and documents and computers found in the room with him when he was captured)?
Do they/are they allowed to still use things like “truth serum”?
Do they use hypnosis?
Cattle prods?
What methods can/do they use to get information?
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/2 "2003-03-04T00:26:40Z")
From everything that I’ve read, physical torture is a very poor method of obtaining reliable information. As nice as it might be to some people to use a cattle prod on this piece of shit’s genitals, it will not be very effective and therefore will not be used.
Most of it is mental and it depends on the person. Some will take bribes of comforting things, some will cut deals like reduced sentencing in return for good info, some like to brag and show their superiority and so on.
Haj
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### Author:  [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/3 "2003-03-04T00:28:36Z")
They are being careful to keep him outside of US soil, where, apparently, the laws for interrogation become somewhat more restrictive. This could be an indicator of what they are doing.
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### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/4 "2003-03-04T00:55:13Z")
Heard on NPR today…tactics that might be being used…
Standing for long periods of time.
Sleep deprivation.
Loud noises.
Little food.
It was said he is probably at Diego Garcia. They won’t bring him to the US (so it was said) because he would get constitutional protections because he would be on American soil. But then where are Padillas constitutional protections?
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### Author:  [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/5 "2003-03-04T00:56:30Z")
[Already asked.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=166666)
[How to manual from declasified CIA documents.](http://www.heart7.net/mcf/kubark.htm)
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### Author:  [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/6 "2003-03-04T02:47:24Z")
Personally, I’d get him addicted to the best, purest heroin and let him have any kind of sex he wanted (well, almost any) and then cut him off from both until he talked.
Torture by pleasure deprivation.
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### Author:  [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/7 "2003-03-04T03:03:20Z")
Anyone notice that he looks a lot like a swarthier Ron Jeremy???
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/8 "2003-03-04T03:07:31Z")
Of course, you can’t overlook the possibility that OBL only told Khalid what he needed to know. That way, he couldn’t give away any useful information. I’m sure OBL can get plenty of guys to take Khalid’s place.
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### Author:  [@Mapwife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapwife)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/9 "2003-03-04T03:20:43Z")
Maybe they’ll pluck the hairs from his hair shirt one by one.
I heard he’s saying nothing but reciting the Koran.
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### Author:  [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/10 "2003-03-04T03:27:57Z")
Isn’t truth serum (sodium pentathol or something like that) a viable option? (off U.S. soil)
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### Author:  [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/11 "2003-03-04T03:46:40Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \*
> \*\*Of course, you can’t overlook the possibility that OBL only told Khalid what he needed to know. That way, he couldn’t give away any useful information. I’m sure OBL can get plenty of guys to take Khalid’s place. \*\*
Terrorist organizations usually compartmentalize into cells for exactly that reason. Of course, if Khalid is actually as high up as everyone thinks he is, he’ll still know quite a bit of information, including (most likely) either OBL’s whereabouts or how to get in contact with him. Two other things:Who’s holding him (I haven’t heard, do you guys know?) will have a big impact on what methods are used. If the Pakistanis have him, they may be less inclined to worry about niceties like human rights and admissability of evidence. Also, how dedicated to al Qaeda’s goal he is will play a major role in how much info he gives out. If he’s a devout believer that al Qaeda is doing exactly what Allah wants, he’d be more likely to be willing to die (or at least undergo quite a bit of discomfort) to protect that mission.
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### Author:  [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/12 "2003-03-04T04:08:01Z")
He must be part of a sleeper cell since it looks like he just woke up.
(I admit to stealing that joke)
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/13 "2003-03-04T04:30:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said questioners would be “humane” and would honor international law. Outside experts said the interrogation was likely to stop just short of outright torture.
>
> “I don’t see a constitutional right to have eight hours of sleep,” said Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA officer and ex-deputy director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter-terrorism. “You shouldn’t subject someone to freezing, but they don’t get to wear mink coats, either. You use sleep deprivation and a reward system.”
[http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5307952.htm](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5307952.htm)
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### Author:  [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/14 "2003-03-04T05:34:17Z")
**AcidKid’s** reference probably answers the OP. I started reading at The Theory of Coercion.
Did Bin Laden’s training camps offer any training in how to handle interrogation? (ie suicide or ???)
Guantanamo Bay camp started with outdoor cages, but has progressed to a building of cells, no doubt with no windows and isolation (solitary confinement). Some of the men have been attempting suicide.
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### Author:  [@habs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/habs)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/15 "2003-03-04T05:41:01Z")
I’m sort of confused about something. Why would Khalid Mohammed spill the beans about _anything_? He knows that he is in a no-win situation, no matter what he does. For example, if he tells the interrogators everything, they aren’t just going to pat him on the back and then let him go. He’ll probably be imprisoned for the rest of his life (if not executed). On the other hand, even if he doesn’t say anything, he’ll be imprisoned for the rest of his life (if not executed). If he chooses option A, then he will have exposed a lot of the sleeper cells and/or their plans, but still doesn’t help himself. If he takes option B, at least none of the possible terrorist plans will be spoiled, and he can safely die as a martyr.
Faced with the possibility of Mohammed taking Option B, what can the interrogators possibly do (short of physical torture) to coerce him into giving him all of the details they seek?
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### Author:  [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/16 "2003-03-04T07:51:06Z")
A person under interrogation is not a person with a lot of rational thought. Personal gain would only be one of the many possible reasons for someone to talk. Interrogators can use sensory deprivation on the interrogee (?), throw random senses at them, loud noises, etc, which all have the effect of erasing the prisoner’s previous reality. There is more information about this in the links posted above in this thread.
Eventually, everybody quits.
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### Author:  [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/17 "2003-03-04T09:05:09Z")
Well, however ineffective old-fashioned torture is as a method to get information out of someone, let us remember that it’s still a lot more fun to do.
But of course, they might just give him a “Grasshopper.”
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/18 "2003-03-04T12:52:19Z")
If there is any justice in this world, it will involve inserting a live fighting bantam rooster into his rectum, spurs & all!
Or else, a “time out”. I can’t decide. 🆒
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### Author:  [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/19 "2003-03-04T14:43:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Reeder \*
> \*\*Heard on NPR today…tactics that might be being used…
>
> Standing for long periods of time.
> Sleep deprivation.
> Loud noises.
> Little food.
> \*\*
He’s pledging a fraternity??
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### Author:  [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-they-ahem-questioning-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/158884/20 "2003-03-04T14:59:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by pravnik \*
> \*\*He’s pledging a fraternity?? \*\*
I really didn’t expect to laugh at loud at a thread about interrogation!
RR
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