The New York Times is reporting today that after 9/11 the CIA secretly began using harsh new interrogation techniques of some detainees connected to Al Qaeda and found ways to skirt US regulations barring the use of torture. The CIA’s methods are so extreme, the FBI has directed its agents not to take part in the questioning because the techniques are prohibited in criminal cases. In the case of suspected Al Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the CIA used a technique known as “water boarding.” Officials strapped him down, forcibly pushed him under water and made him believe he was about to drown. Some detainees have been hooded, soaked with water, roughed up and deprived of food, light and medication. Other detainees have been sent to other countries where they are convinced they are going to be executed.