The newly redesigned International Spy Museum offers visitors a look at the thrilling world of espionage, complete with Cold War-era gadgets and James Bond exhibits. But beneath the Hollywood veneer, it also tackles some of the more difficult questions of intelligence, including the debate over torture.
Visitors — or “agents,” as the staff calls them — are given an action-packed experience from the start at the sprawling new $162 million facility located just off Washington, D.C.’s National Mall. After an introductory video voiced by actor Morgan Freeman, it’s easy to get the sense that the experience is all fun and games, but that’s just the appetizer. Once inside, visitors are shown the realities of the profession, both the lively adventure and the deadly, serious consequences.
Cyberwarfare, propaganda programs, traitors, whistleblowers, and more are featured within the multi-story building, which opened this week. The most striking display, however, is dedicated to torture and interrogation. A sign posted outside the exhibit warns visitors that the content ahead may be distressing, and for good reason. The exhibit gives a raw, honest look at everything from the medieval torture techniques of old to the enhanced interrogation techniques of recent years. Signs show some of the enhanced interrogation techniques in action, including shouting, slapping, and stress positions. A large wooden box sits in a corner, similar to the one in which terror suspect and Guantanamo Bay detainee Abu Zubaydah was reportedly confined for long periods of time during interrogations. To the right of the box is a mock-up of an actual waterboard that features some of the equipment used in the process. In large, block letters, the exhibit asks, “What is torture?”
To answer that question, the museum features a number of notable former intelligence officials offering differing perspectives via video. Speaking against enhanced interrogation is Malcolm Nance, a 20-year Navy veteran and longtime outspoken opponent of waterboarding. He recalled being waterboarded himself as part of his military training, an experience he equated to being tortured. Nance’s argument against the practice is simple: A detainee will say whatever the interrogator wants to hear to make the pain stop.
Jose Rodriguez, the former director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, ran the CIA interrogation program and defended its actions. He dispelled some of the myths surrounding enhanced interrogation, explaining that waterboarding was only one technique, used rarely and only after others had proven ineffective. Rodriguez has been a vocal defender of the intelligence community since retiring in 2008, arguing that the information gleaned from the interrogation of high-ranking terrorist leaders was useful in the early days of the global war on terrorism.
Visitors are given the chance at the end of the presentation to weigh in on whether they would be willing to use enhanced interrogation techniques in similar situations. The results at the time of my visit showed 60% said they would, while 40% said they would not. A 2017 Pew poll asked respondents if it were ever appropriate for America to use torture in counterterrorism efforts, with 49% saying there are no acceptable circumstances and 48% saying there are some.
President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2009 limiting the CIA to the use of procedures defined in the Army Field Manual on Interrogations, effectively banning waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques. But the question still lingers for the public, and the new International Spy Museum gives Washingtonians and tourists an opportunity to explore it from all angles.
