US to Interrogate Terrorists With Focus on Rapport - Intelligence Chief

US special operations forces are hunting for terrorists to capture alive for questioning, with an emphasis on methods far more gentle than the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” used in the past, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) —“You may notice an uptick in special operations intended to capture, interrogate and gather materials that will give us greater insights into the [terrorist] network, and I think that will pay dividends in the long term,” Stewart stated in testimony before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

Stewart was responding to a question concerning reports this week that US forces had seized a key Islamic State, or Daesh, leader in Iraq. He cited instructions in the US Army Field Manual, which focus on establishing rapport with the prisoner.

“That type of [rapport-based method] works,” Stewart pointed out. “It gives good insights that lead to other operatives. It gives us insights into how the network operates, so there’s value there and ultimately that could prevent terrorist attacks.”

The harsh techniques used in the past, Stewart noted, only guarantee that the detainee will “tell you what you want to hear to stop the pain.”

President Barack Obama has described the scandal-tainted method of waterboarding as torture, and ended the practice that was widely used following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Torture has become an issue in the US presidential campaign, with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump advocating waterboarding and even harsher methods in questioning terrorist suspects.