he begged to commit suicide

The brutality of SERE techniques was in evidence during the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani, believed by some to be the missing 20th hijacker of the 9/11 attacks. From November 2002 to January 2003, interrogators and psychologists at Guantanamo experimented with ways to torment Qahtani into confessing. The methods used in his torture, which were directly authorized by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, included months of isolation, sleep deprivation, forced nudity, and even a stint where a female interrogator allegedly performed lap dances on him. He begged to commit suicide. Qahtani ultimately "confessed" in June 2005, claiming that 30 other Guantanamo prisoners were Osama bin Laden's bodyguards. The Pentagon claimed this was vital intelligence, though Qahtani repudiated all his confessions a year later, saying they were extracted under duress. According to military prosecutors, what was done to him negated any value he may have had in a trial setting. Nevertheless, in February, the Bush administration and Pentagon announced that Qahtani would be among the first Guantanamo prisoners to be granted a trial; he faces execution if found guilty.