Retired Gen. David Petraeus said he was “pleased” to see that President Trump will defer to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and not bring back the use of torture.
Petraeus, who was in charge of more than 27,000 detainees when he commanded the surge in Iraq, said torture is not called for when interrogating the vast majority of detainees.
“First of all, it’s wrong and if you don’t buy that it’s also generally not the best way to go about getting information from a detainee,” he told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.
Petraeus said there’s an exception in the “ticking time bomb scenario,” where intelligence is needed to stop an imminent terrorist attack that can be gained only by torture. But in general, he said detainees often respond better and reveal more when they’re working with skilled interpreters and interrogators.
“They establish a relationship. As we say, become the detainees’ best friend,” he said.
Prior to being nominated, Mattis told Trump that beer and cigarettes work better than waterboarding to solicit information from detainees.
Trump said last week that he believes torture “absolutely” works and that he’s heard the same from many in the intelligence community. The comments drew immediate criticism from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill. The president said he would defer to members of his inner circle, such as Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
During the campaign, Trump said the U.S. must use tactics such as waterboarding to be able to counteract the Islamic State, which uses brutal violence like beheadings.
But Petraeus said that’s not the right way to respond.
“We can not sink to their level,” he said.
