"Until now we have made employees fill in questionnaires on paper, and
then we questioned them," Hamier said. "It is very easy to lie. But now that
will be much more difficult."
In the past, U.S. interrogators have complained that Al Qaida-aligned
suspects were able to overcome polygraphs. But officials said the Canadian
model was more sensitive in detecting changes in interrogation subjects.
"These sensors are very sensitive; you can't beat them," U.S. instructor
Daniel Sosnowski said. "If the interogee is trained to evade detection,
we're trained also to look for his counter-measures."
[On Dec. 6 and Dec. 7, 21 Al Qaida operatives were detained during
operations in northern Iraq. Four of the detained operatives were deemed as
fugitives.]
The Canadian-origin polygraph, reported to cost $5,500, contains six
sensors attached to a laptop computer. The sensors measure breathing, heart
beat and blood pressure of the subject under interrogation.
"With these polygraphs, they'll be able to be sure that people are who
they say they are, that they don't give away information they are not
supposed to," Steven Bond, the senior adviser at the U.S. Intelligence
Transition Team, said.
Officials said Al Qaida was believed to have infiltrated hundreds of
agents in the military, police as well as in the Interior Ministry and
Defense Ministry. They said this has enabled Al Qaida to track and kill
groups of military and security officers throughout Iraq.
"Al Qaida has proved that they are very good with sleeper cells, to
infiltrate people in sensitive positions," Bond said.
