Gitmo 'Torture' Modeled on Chinese Grilling of US POWs

Guantanamo Bay interrogators learned their techniques from Chinese Communists who used them on American POWs in the Korean War, the New York Times reports. A 1957 Air Force chart labeled Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance detailed methods like prolonged standing and exposure to cold, and was used as a training aid by military trainers. The chart was copied verbatim for use at Guantanamo.

When the chart was first compiled, officials described the techniques as brainwashing and torture. Ironically, the techniques were used by the Chinese to force often false confessions from Americans. "People say we need intelligence, and we do," said Carl Levin, chair of the Senate committee probing Guantanamo interrogations. "But we don’t need false intelligence.” (More CIA stories.)