By Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON, D.C. — FBI agents assigned to interview key terrorism suspects repeatedly objected to harsh — and possibly illegal — interrogation tactics used by other U.S. officials two years before abuse of detainees at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison became public in 2004, a Justice Department review found.
Shortly after the 2002 captures of Abu Zubaydah and Ramzi Binalshibh, both detained as alleged principal planners in the Sept. 11 attacks, FBI agents passed on their objections to the highest levels of the Justice Department. FBI Director Robert Mueller advised agents not to participate in coercive interrogations, the report said.
The review by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine is the most detailed account of the FBI’s involvement with terrorism suspects, some of whom were subjected to waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning. The report credits FBI agents with communicating their concerns to superiors and refusing to participate in abusive sessions.
“We believe that while the FBI could have provided clear guidance earlier and ... could have pressed harder for resolution of concerns ... the FBI should be credited for its conduct and professionalism,” the report concludes.
It says the controversial treatment of detainees by the military and U.S. intelligence officers persisted because of a view “at a very high level that this was a military situation and the military approach should prevail.” The CIA has acknowledged using waterboarding.
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said Tuesday, “While I take comfort in knowing that, for the most part, FBI field agents followed the agency’s policies regarding interrogations, I find it very disturbing that many senior FBI and (Justice) officials failed to take strong action after identifying interrogation abuses.”
An FBI statement said the report confirms that agents abided by guidelines that prohibit coercive interrogation techniques.
Copyright 2008 The USA TODAY