Comments on: Truth Extraction: Honey Beats Vinegar

By: The American Street » Blog Archive » The Faith of Our Fathers

The American Street » Blog Archive » The Faith of Our Fathers — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 19:50:07 +0000

[...] antic Monthly also has an article on Scharff out this month. [Due to an inaccessible link, you can read an excerpt from it here]. Adding to the irony is that when we think of Nazi interro [...]

By: PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science

PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science — Fri, 20 May 2005 21:02:46 +0000

On Prisoners and Abuses

Via the NYT: In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' DeathsIt would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi...

By: Troppo Armadillo

Troppo Armadillo — Sat, 07 May 2005 12:50:39 +0000

The Interviewer
The Atlantic and Australia's new magazine The Monthly discuss the art of the interview In the Atlantic Stephen Budiansky unearths a World War II document on how to interrogate Japanese POWs while in The Monthly Kerryn Goldsworthy looks at how...

By: Kent

Kent — Fri, 06 May 2005 16:18:16 +0000

James,

I don't question that this is the best approach, for prisoners of almost any nationality. It just needs to be understood that your mileage will vary.

By: davod

davod — Fri, 06 May 2005 01:19:26 +0000

Some time ago I read an article about an Israeli interogator. He basically said exactly the same about his methods as the above gentlemen. He even studied (not just read) the Koran.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 05 May 2005 22:31:11 +0000

Kent. True as far as it goes. But the interrogators using standard techniques did not have anything like this level of success against them. And Scharff was apparently quite successful against Allied captives using similar techniques.

Read the piece in its entirety. It's not all that long.

By: Kent

Kent — Thu, 05 May 2005 22:18:17 +0000

While the slant of the article sounds plausible, and I would be willing to try it with prisoners of any nationality, it has to be noted that Japanese prisoners of war were peculiarly susceptible to interrogation. They were already completely disgraced by the dishonor of surrender, leaving them vulnerable psychologically. In addition, because Japanese were never supposed to surrender, they had no preparation whatsoever for how to behave if they were taken prisoner.

Cook and Cook, in Japan At War: An Oral History, quote a Japanese prisoner who stated that his years as a POW in America were some of the best of his life.

By: Waffle

Waffle — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

many posts on the issue at Obsidian Wings as just a starting point for those who want to know more about what is being done in Americans' names. One article that I found in a new search for "Hans Joachim Scharff" is Truth Extraction: Honey Beats Vinegar which also describes how one American interrogator got useful information out of Japanese prisoners of war by ensuring they felt safe. That links to a longer article which is unfortunately behind a subscription wall.

By: Desert Beacon

Desert Beacon — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Stephen Budiansky, "Truth Extraction," Atlantic Monthly online June 2005 (This is the best source of information in summary form.) "Rejecting Torture" Political Cortex July 14, 2006 Outside the Beltway "Honey Beats Vinegar" "Enemy Prisoners of War" aiipowmia.com Review of Ishii's "The Anguish of Surrender."